Experten vermuten illegale Abschalteinrichtung im EA 288 Motor

Public prosecutor's office investigates on-board diagnostic system.

After research by SWR The Volkswagen Group has also EA288 engine a switch-off device is installed. Leading experts believe that the "cycle detection" is an illegal switch-off device. This is because the vehicle uses it to recognize whether it is in the exhaust gas test procedure and regulates the amount of exhaust gases injected into the exhaust gas purification system using AdBlue. The EA288 engine was installed in hundreds of thousands of VW vehicles. These include models such as the Golf, Tiguan and Passat. Cars from brands such as Audi, Skoda and Seat are also equipped with the illegal engine. Here you can find an overview of the vehicles affected by the EA288 scandal.

In the course of the investigation into the EA288 engine, the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig has rented office space at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. The focus of the investigation is the "onboard diagnostic system" (OBD), which apparently does not work in accordance with the law. According to EU regulation 692/2008, the on-board computer should report an error if nitrogen oxide emissions exceed 240 mg per kilometer. But even if the limit is significantly exceeded, the error message does not appear.

Expert classifies cycle detection as an illegal shutdown device

The documents available to SWR apparently confirm that up until 2016, the EA288 engines had a cycle detection system that determined whether the vehicle was undergoing an emissions test on the test bench. The documents speak of a route-controlled "switching of the raw emissions data" and a "dosing strategy in the cycle and outside the cycle". Peter Mock, European director of the research organization ICCT, sees this as defining a switch-off device: "Because the detection of the driving profile is definitely not allowed either."

Claim for damages also exists regardless of recalls

As a leading law firm in the emissions scandal, Rogert and Ulbrich has already filed lawsuits regarding the EA288 engine. Initial court rulings show a clear tendency in favor of consumers. "These instructions, which the court originally designed for the EA189 class engines, also apply to other defeat devices, such as those claimed by the plaintiff here in relation to the EA288 engine," is what the Ingolstadt Regional Court said, for example, regarding an Audi with EA288 enginePossible claims for damages also apply if the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has not yet ordered a recall of the vehicle. According to Judge Schlappa of the Ingolstadt Regional Court, it must be acknowledged that "there was a lack of control on the part of the KBA, at least for a limited period of time, and that the authority did not independently check the engines for defeat devices." Owners of vehicles with EA 288 engines should therefore have their legal claims checked and demand a refund of the purchase price.