VW paying drivers $97M for overstating fuel economy, must forfeit emissions credits

In the shadow of the diesel scandal, and just before the official reveal of its first mass-market electric car next week, Volkswagen is facing yet another public reprimand: It’s being ordered by the EPA to revise its fuel economy estimates applying to about 98,000 vehicles.

And in a separate settlement coinciding with the Friday announcement (pending court approval), VW will pay drivers a total of $97 million—ranging from $5,40 to $24.30 for each month the affected vehicle is owned or leased. 

2014 Porsche Cayenne Platinum Edition

The issue, over a software routine that shifted the transmission in a more efficient manner than normal when it was being run in an emissions test, affects some of the most exclusive and expensive gasoline-powered vehicles in the Volkswagen Group, including 2013-2016 Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur models, the 2013-2016 Porsche Cayenne, as well as 2013-2016 Audi models that include the 4.0-liter V-8 or 6.3-liter W-12 engines. It also includes the 2013-2014 Volkswagen Touareg (VR6) and all-wheel-drive (4Motion) versions of the 2017 Tiguan crossover. 

For under-reporting the numbers, VW is also being required by the EPA to forfeit its emission credits earned for federal light-vehicle greenhouse-gas standards, as it has understated greenhouse-gas emissions by about 220,000 metric tons. It works out to be about 1 mile per gallon across the affected vehicles.

The issue, as described by the EPA, sounds awfully familiar: “This software causes the transmission to shift gears during the EPA-prescribed emissions test in a manner that sometimes optimizes fuel economy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the test, but not under normal driving conditions.”

In Volkswagen’s diesel scandal, “defeat device” engine software controls were using a set of variables to determine when a vehicle was being run in an emissions test; in some situations when it wasn’t, the software allowed relaxed emissions controls permitting many times higher NOx emissions. 

2014 Volkswagen Touareg R-Line

The new round of ordered adjustments don’t have anything to do with diesel. And owners of the affected vehicles should note that the they're well within allowed emissions in either of its modes of transmission operation. 

The EPA is working with the Department of Energy to update values for the affected vehicles at FuelEconomy.gov, and changes will be made by September 6, 2019. 

See below for the chart of adjustments by model, as published by the U.S. EPA: