Volkswagen Recalls 500,000 Cars for Cheating Emission Tests

German auto giant Volkswagen was charged by U.S. regulators for manufacturing vehicles with devices that disguise pollution levels, forcing them to urgently recall nearly 500,000 cars.

With that, Volkswagen could face $37,500 penalty per car or more than $18 billion fine. A software is used to turn off emissions controls for nitrogen oxide when the car was in normal use but are turned on when it was tested at an emissions station.

Because of the "defeat device," the diesel cars are emitting greater-than-allowed quantities of pollution that are linked to smog and various health ills.

"Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean-air standards is illegal and a threat to public health," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, BBC News reported.

The case was first reported on the previous year by the International Council for Clean Transportation and West Virginia University, following a documentation that showed elevated emissions from some Volkswagen cars, emitting as much as 40 times than the legal standard of nitrogen oxide, Yahoo News reported.

When the issue was brought to the automaker, they blamed the elevated pollution result on "various technical issues and unexpected in-use conditions."

Because of this, regulators said that Volkswagen couldn't get their approval for 2016 car models "until VW could adequately explain the anomalous emissions and ensure the agencies that the 2016 model year vehicles would not have similar issues," the EPA said.

"Only then did VW admit it had designed and installed a defeat device in these vehicles in the form of a sophisticated software algorithm that detected when a vehicle was undergoing emissions testing," the EPA added.

California regulators as well as EPA consider it a very serious violation to the Clean Air Act and is said to continue probing the issue.

"Our goal now is to ensure that the affected cars are brought into compliance, to dig more deeply into the extent and implications of Volkswagen's efforts to cheat on clean air rules, and to take appropriate further action," said Richard Corey, executive officer at the California Air Resources Board.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen acknowledged receipt of the notice for investigation regarding the emissions compliance and is willing to cooperate.

"Volkswagen is committed to fixing this issue as soon as possible. We want to assure customers and owners of these models that their automobiles are safe to drive, and we are working to develop a remedy that meets emissions standards and satisfies our loyal and valued customers. Owners of these vehicles do not need to take any action at this time," Volkswagen said in a press release on their website.

The allegations affect 482,000 diesel models of Volkswagen Jetta, Beetle, Golf, and Audi A3 for 2009-2015, and the Volkswagen Passat for 2014-2015.

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