Research group finds results of Fiat emissions tests fishy

Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles emitted pollution as much as 20 times the legal limit, according to testing by the same researchers who first recorded the excess emissions in Volkswagen AG's diesel cheating scandal.

The revelation from a West Virginia University laboratory sheds new light on the U.S. Justice Department's allegations in a civil lawsuit last month that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV has used illegal "defeat devices," software that helps vehicles emit fewer pollutants during emissions tests. It comes amid growing concerns about the ability of diesel engines to satisfy U.S. emissions limits and the extent to which automakers may be working to navigate around them.

West Virginia University's Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines and Emissions stopped short of accusing Fiat Chrysler of emissions cheating, but it said on-road tests of Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicles and Ram 1500 pickups revealed nitrogen oxide levels at three to 20 times what is permitted by U.S. clean-air rules. Nitrogen oxide can cause smog and acid rain.

"We saw emissions results in simulated on-road cycles on chassis dynamometers that were much lower than the actual on-road results were, suggesting that the vehicle was controlled in different fashions," said Daniel Carder, director of the center.

Fiat Chrysler, in a statement, said it has asked for more information about how the study was conducted but that "this testing appears to have been commissioned by a plaintiffs' law firm for purposes of litigation."

Carder declined to comment on who commissioned the research.

Business on 06/14/2017

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