Fiat News: FCA Emails Possibly Suggest Alleged Use of Illegal Software

[William Maley]

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles finds itself in a fair amount of hot water over the use of defeat devices in the 3.0L EcoDiesel used in the Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee with various lawsuits. But that water could become hotter as newly unsealed documents reveal FCA's suppliers discussed the use of illegal software back in 2010.

Sergio Pasini, the controls and calibration director at supplier VM Motori wrote in an email that FCA wanted to use software in their diesel engine that could detect when a vehicle was undergoing emission tests and activate emission controls. 

The software known as 't_engine' "is, no matter what Fiat says, a cycle detection," Pasini wrote in the email.

The lawsuit also alleges that another supplier, Robert Bosch GmbH, warned VM Motori about 't_engine' and that they could face “serious penalties” if it was discovered by regulators. Bosch it should be noted is under investigation for its involvement in the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal.

The documents are part of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed against FCA in San Fransisco which alleges the company misled buyers of the EcoDiesel by "touting the fuel economy and performance of its EcoDiesel engines while cheating on emissions tests to win regulatory approval."

“We continue to cooperate with various governmental investigations related to diesel emissions, and emails such as those referenced have been previously provided to the agencies. It is inappropriate to draw conclusions from isolated communications and internal deliberations, without the more detailed context that is part of the reviews FCA is conducting as part of the investigation process,” FCA wrote in an email statement.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[G. David Felt]

Another reason Diesel will eventually go away in cars period and eventually trucks as the auto industry figures out how to build better Hybrid power trains that can handle the torque needed to move trailers and heavy loads for trucks and cars are already done by the Hybrid cars out now.

[ocnblu]

The only thing this reveals (as if it weren't already abundantly clear) is that the standards are too stringent to allow a good performing, efficient engine FOR THE CUSTOMER.

[G. David Felt]

10 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

The only thing this reveals (as if it weren't already abundantly clear) is that the standards are too stringent to allow a good performing, efficient engine FOR THE CUSTOMER.

And you ignore all the toxic by products the Diesel engine puts out. These engines are very dirty in the configuration that the germans sold them in compared to the treatment systems that did clean them up. 

Yet with that said, today's advances have shown that diesel is not the efficient king it used to be. Moving forward in the 21st century, Hybrids and electrics will continue to improve and replace diesel and petro autos.

[daves87rs]

Makes me wonder how this is going to play out. FCA can't affors to lose too much more money....