Eight defeat devices were used by the automaker, which was previously unknown.
This week, Mercedes-Benz’s dieselgate nightmare from years ago has been reexamined in Germany.
In a public report by Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), dated November 5, 2021, the automaker is said to be using eight defeat devices in a Mercedes-Benz E-Class with Euro 6-classified diesel engine. These devices, which were previously unknown, significantly reduced nitrogen oxide emissions.
The US law firm Milberg commissioned Felix Domke to examine the details of the report.
The report involved a 2016 Mercedes E 350d with an OM642 diesel engine. Six defeat devices were connected to the car’s built-in SCR catalyst, while two were related to the vehicle’s exhaust gas recirculation.
The DUH deemed these eight defeat devices illegal, claiming they were used to falsify results in laboratory emissions testing. Domke stated that nitrogen oxide emissions were up to 500% higher than the legal limit when the car is being driven on the roads.
Domke stated in the report that one of the defeat devices “significantly reduced the amount of AdBlue injectable, which is urgently required to neutralize nitrogen oxides within the SCR catalytic convertor.” AdBlue is used to decompose diesel exhaust gases, changing their composition.
Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), however, stated that it was aware of the defeat devices, and that they are not illegal, according to German newspaper Automobilwoche reports.
Due to the dieselgate scandal, Mercedes had to recall almost 800,000. GLC and C-Class models in Europe in 2018. KBA found five defeat devices in diesel-powered vehicles, which were allegedly used by Mercedes to skirt strict European diesel emissions regulations. This recall was an update to the 2017 massive recall of Mercedes Vito vans.
The automaker was required to pay approximately $2.8 Billion to settle civil and environmental claims regarding the diesel engine emissions control of about 250,000 vehicles in the United States.
As it did when the issue first emerged, the German automaker is still firm in its stand. A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz told Autocar that these “are not to be considered as illegal defeat devices” in the interaction and overall contexts of the complex emission control system.