The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is always on the lookout for cars and companies that violate regulations imposed by the government. Recently, The EPA recently faulted the Fiat Chrysler Corporation (FCA) for violating the Clean Air Act in installing certain devices for emission control at Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1500 pickup trucks.
In a report by The Car Connection, it is mentioned that Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator at the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance, claims that the vehicles acted differently when tested. Apparently, FCA is being asked to explain why the devices in question should not be called "defeat devices", the term used for the Volkswagen's device used for their non-compliant diesel vehicles. EPA is awaiting for the company to demonstrate that these are not defeat devices.
The FCA models affected are the 2014 to 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Ram models that have been equipped with the 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V6 engines. Around 100,000 pickups and SUV's are under question.
Eight auxiliary emission control devices (AECD) were discovered by the EPA in the process of certifying the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 for the 2017 model year lineup for FCAS. The AECD are devices with software that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions during testing making the cars perform better in tests than in actual use. If found willfully installing such devices in their vehicles, FCA faces fines up to $4.4 billion which is the equivalent of $44, 539 per vehicle as imposed by the Clean Air Act.
Furthermore, FCA engineers and executives may be indicted for grave misdeeds just like what happened to the Volkswagen employees in Germany that were arrested over the diesel scandal. The EPA said the vehicles are safe to use and there are no recall orders and no further actions are required from the vehicle owners.
The vehicle owners can still use the FCA vehicles under question. The Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ram 1500 pickup trucks just do not meet the air pollution standard imposed by the Clean Air Act.
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