The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) is threatening Mercedes with the shutdown of thousands of diesel cars because of emissions manipulation. A number of engines installed in vehicles with the Euro 6 emissions standard have “inadmissible shutdown devices”.
This emerges from a letter from the KBA to the German company dated July 5th. The German Environmental Aid (DUH) published the letter on Friday; “Spiegel” and Bayerischer Rundfunk had previously reported on it. The engines of the OM 642 series in question were already in the authorities’ sights and Mercedes had to make improvements. This was “reviewed” and “approved” by the KBA, the letter states. However, in further investigations, other software strategies were assessed as “critical or impermissible shutdown devices”. The authority lists their function in detail in the further letter.Showdown in SeptemberThe KBA called on Mercedes to inform Mercedes how the problems can be solved by the end of July, otherwise there would be a risk of an “operational ban” – the decommissioning of the vehicles. According to “Spiegel”, the company requested an extension of the deadline and a meeting with KBA representatives is scheduled for the end of September. The authority explained that the process concerns a model for which there has been a software update since 2019. A spokesman explained that there is a “remaining quantity” of vehicles for which the software measure still needs to be implemented. The letter from the KBA should speed up the process. New vehicles or new vehicle models are not affected. Since the diesel scandal became known, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared a number of engine functions to be inadmissible. With shutdown devices, the engine’s exhaust gas cleaning system is switched off. According to the ECJ, this is only permissible if it can be proven that the engine could otherwise be damaged. The DUH, which sued against the use of defeat devices and was proven right by the European judiciary, criticizes the fact that almost ten million diesel cars in Germany still have illegal software settings be on the way. The KBA letter to Mercedes was leaked to the environmental organization by a “whistleblower”. Accusations against Transport Ministers The activists accuse German Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and the KBA of “conspiratorial collaboration” with the car companies and, among other things, argue that for consumers Relevant information such as the emissions manipulations mentioned in the letter to Mercedes would be kept under wraps. In June, the ECJ ruled in a landmark ruling that drivers of diesel vehicles with exhaust gas manipulation are entitled to compensation.
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