VW News: As the Diesel Emits: Volkswagen Engineer Pleads Guilty Over Diesel Emission Scandal

[William Maley]

The first person has been charged in the U.S.' Volkswagen diesel emission probe. Today at the U.S. Federal Court in Detroit, James Robert Liang, leader of diesel competence for Volkswagen from 2008 until June of this year entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, commit wire fraud, and violate the Clean Air Act. 

According to grand jury indictment filed back in June and unsealed today,  “Liang and his co-conspirators, including current and former employees, and others, agreed to defraud the U.S. and VW customers, and violate the Clean Air Act, by misleading the U.S. and VW customers about whether VW diesel motors complied with U.S. emissions standards,” prosecutors wrote.

Documents showed Liang was on the team that developed the diesel engine at the center of this scandal, the EA 189 2.0L four-cylinder back in 2006. The team realized that the engine wouldn't meet the strict U.S. standards on nitrogen oxide emissions while also attracting “sufficient customer demand.” Thus the decision was made to develop and install the 'defeat device' software on the EA 189 to pass emission tests. This engine would be installed on various Volkswagen vehicles starting in 2009.

In 2014, Liang's team would update the software to help cut down on warranty claims. Engineers believed the reason for the increase in claims was due to the vehicle operating with the defeat device on for too long. Around this time, U.S. regulators would begin asking Volkswagen questions about the discrepancies between the amount of emissions being emitted during lab tests and in real-world driving. Various Volkswagen employees either lied when talking with regulators. 

“I know VW did not disclose the defeat device to U.S. regulators in order to sell the cars in the U.S. That’s what makes me guilty,” said Liang to the court.

Liang faces up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss. In a plea agreement signed on August 31st, prosecutors say in exchange for his agreement to cooperate with the probe, the U.S. government agrees not to use any new information about Liang’s own criminal conduct during the sentencing hearing expected to take place on January 11th. Liang's cooperation could help out in the investigation and shine a light on more people involved.

When asked for comment, Volkswagen spokeswoman Jeannine Ginivan declined.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), Bloomberg, The Detroit News

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[G. David Felt]

Hope they nail VW hard for this crap. Plus time to just move this along and focus on the future of Hybrid, EV,etc. Diesel is dead, RIP as we move forward with technology.

[ocnblu]

Volkswagen was giving millions of satisfied, loyal owners what they want... a good running, efficient, durable diesel engine.  The problem is government regulations, not Volkswagen.  And to hell with all this hybrid/electrification crap.  It is impractical and will remain so for 90% of the country for the foreseeable future.  Bottom line.

[Drew Dowdell]

Dominos is giving people what they want.... fast pizza delivery service.... who cares if they break the speed limit or health codes in the process.... Down with government regulation!

[FAPTurbo]

YEAH BY MISLEADING CUSTOMERS AND CAUSING THEIR VEHICLE VALUES TO DROP LIKE A ROCK, VW IS TOTALLY ABOUT CONSUMER INTERESTS LOL

[Frisky Dingo]

I'm still waiting on GM peeps to face prison time for the ignition deaths. And Takata employess, too. 

 

 

Wait, what's that? That's not happening? Oh, damn......

[Drew Dowdell]

4 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

I'm still waiting on GM peeps to face prison time for the ignition deaths. And Takata employess, too. 

 

 

Wait, what's that? That's not happening? Oh, damn......

He "faces" up to 5 years in prison... but I'm sure his plea bargain spells out some amnesty for turning in the names of other people.... if it doesn't, then he's dumb

[G. David Felt]

10 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Volkswagen was giving millions of satisfied, loyal owners what they want... a good running, efficient, durable diesel engine.  The problem is government regulations, not Volkswagen.  And to hell with all this hybrid/electrification crap.  It is impractical and will remain so for 90% of the country for the foreseeable future.  Bottom line.

Along with that so called satisfied durable diesel engine was the destruction of the forest due to the over polluting diesel that caused acid rain. VW is now clearly responsible for a large amount of that acid based on the actual output of toxins.

Hybrid / electrification is not crap and you know it, but are just not wanting to change soap box's for an alternative view.

You and I both know it will not cause petro engine auto's to go away overnight. There is also no reason not to improve the air we all have to breath by having auto's that do not cause air pollution or noise pollution.

[ocnblu]

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

Along with that so called satisfied durable diesel engine was the destruction of the forest due to the over polluting diesel that caused acid rain. VW is now clearly responsible for a large amount of that acid based on the actual output of toxins.

Hybrid / electrification is not crap and you know it, but are just not wanting to change soap box's for an alternative view.

You and I both know it will not cause petro engine auto's to go away overnight. There is also no reason not to improve the air we all have to breath by having auto's that do not cause air pollution or noise pollution.

No they just rape mother earth, mining for battery material. 

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Dominos is giving people what they want.... fast pizza delivery service.... who cares if they break the speed limit or health codes in the process.... Down with government regulation!

Thanks Drew!  *high five*

[Drew Dowdell]

19 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

No they just rape mother earth, mining for battery material. 

False.

Lithium comes from some of the deadest places on earth. 

In fact there is a whole meme circulating about how destructive lithium mining is... but guess what? It's a lie.

Quote

Now, it’s a safe bet that someone, sometime has told you that lithium mining is awful. That it requires big holes like that one that was used to make the copper pipes, and copper wires, and copper electronics you use every day. Someone told you that, even though it’s not true. Why did they tell you that? Because someone knew just enough to know that lithium is used in electric car batteries, and that someone was enough of a dickweed to want to make electric cars look bad. Even though they knew they were lying.

How dead are the areas where lithium extraction (note the change in terms... it's not mining) takes place? They sent space probes to test the salt flats in Boliva where the lithium extraction is done and..... 

Quote

In 2003, a team of researchers published a report in the journal Science in which they duplicated the tests used by the Viking 1 and Viking 2 Mars landers to detect life, and were unable to detect any signs in Atacama Desert soil in the region of Yungay.

Lithium extraction is just giant pools of water that get evaporated in the desert...... nothing like tar sands mining that really rapes mother earth...

[Frisky Dingo]

Lol, there's far, far worse things going on destroying the environment than VW's skirting emissions regs on diesel engines.

 

That some people would think they should be punished anywhere near as harshly as those that are responsible for human deaths is absolutely despicable.   

[Drew Dowdell]

Bureaucratic Negligence verses Malice and Hubris is the difference here.

 

[A Horse With No Name]

On 9/10/2016 at 2:28 PM, bigpoolog said:

YEAH BY MISLEADING CUSTOMERS AND CAUSING THEIR VEHICLE VALUES TO DROP LIKE A ROCK, VW IS TOTALLY ABOUT CONSUMER INTERESTS LOL

Dropping values and lack of future support is why we are selling ours back.  It has been a fabulous car though, and I will miss it.  Not sure what we will replace it with.

On 9/10/2016 at 6:23 PM, Frisky Dingo said:

Lol, there's far, far worse things going on destroying the environment than VW's skirting emissions regs on diesel engines.

 

That some people would think they should be punished anywhere near as harshly as those that are responsible for human deaths is absolutely despicable.   

In a way you are correct.  While I find VW negligent, there are far worse environmental crimes that get far less attention. VW's punishment kind of smacks of protectionism if you ask me.

On 9/10/2016 at 5:24 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

False.

Lithium comes from some of the deadest places on earth. 

In fact there is a whole meme circulating about how destructive lithium mining is... but guess what? It's a lie.

How dead are the areas where lithium extraction (note the change in terms... it's not mining) takes place? They sent space probes to test the salt flats in Boliva where the lithium extraction is done and..... 

Lithium extraction is just giant pools of water that get evaporated in the desert...... nothing like tar sands mining that really rapes mother earth...

Aside from the environment impact, i find electrical cars compelling for a couple of reasons. One, I love the torque and the performance. Two, it is the future of the automobile....we do not have enough fossil fuel on the planet to fuel internal combustion indefinitely, and I want future generations to enjoy the same personal freedom i have experienced with the automobile.