Engine maker Cummins Inc. will recall 600,000 Ram trucks as part of a settlement with federal and California authorities that also requires the company to remedy environmental damage caused by illegal software that let it skirt diesel emissions tests.
New details of the settlement, reached in December, were released Wednesday. Cummins had already agreed to a $1.675 billion civil penalty to settle claims – the largest ever secured under the Clean Air Act – plus $325 million for pollution remedies.
That brings Cummins’ total penalty to more than $2 billion, which officials from the Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board and the California Attorney General called “landmark” in a call with reporters Wednesday.
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$325 million for pollution remedies.
Yes, pay us, so um, we can….fix…it
I wonder if the fix will nerf the engines like the VW diesels.
Don’t see how it could be any other way.
If Cummins could manufacture and sell compliant engines which met performance goals and customer expectations, they would. Writing has been on the wall for tampering with diesel engine emissions in the US for a while now.
I don’t see how it could NOT affect power output.
But the thing about recalls is they’re completely voluntary. You don’t have to bring your truck in to have it fixed.
If your bring your truck in to a dealer the dealer often will automatically apply all recalls. Cummins can also get third party mechanics involved. While the dealer or mechanic knows their customer doesn’t want this recall applied, they also have various other legal issues that are even more important - dealers may risk their entire dealership if they get caught not applying this recall.
That these vehicles are recalled can also be tracked other ways. If governments really care they will not renew your license without proof that the recall was applied. (I don’t think they have ever done this but is in their power)
EPA only requires recall tracking for 18 months. After that they give up. Also:
Enforcement of emissions regulations are very reliant on state inspection programs, and not every state has an inspection program.
In this case, Cummins would only contract with outside mechanics if dealers were unable to handle the volume or modifications. If an owner brings their vehicle to a third-party, Cummins is still responsible for paying for the fix. But in this case the fix seems to be an update to the ECU, which is generally only accomplished at a dealer.
Driver licensing/vehicle registration is handled by the states, and would only be in jeopardy if a state has an inspection program.
The EPA reserves the right to extend a recall program, and in this case the publicity certainly warrants it. But aside from living in a CARB state or having to pass a different inspection, there’s no enforcement of recall compliance.
Inspection stations in California will probably check the recall status so that will at least cover that for the State concerned by it.
I have no idea what the penalty is, but I expect these trucks would fail any ‘rigorous’ emissions test.
these owners aren’t likely to bring their truck in to get ‘fixed’.
I hope it at least makes them quieter so I can sleep at night but I won’t hold my breath.
Unlikely. That would require adding in significant sound deadening to almost the entire engine bay and restricting exhausts more than they already are with diesel particulate filters and cats. If you ever check out the car audio enthusiasts, you can see they easily spend a few thousand applying deadening materials to their vehicles and increasing their weight to boot.
Most assholes who drive those will deliberately not fix them because they want emmisions to be as high as possie to „own the libs” or whatever.
I wouldn’t bring it in because the “fix” will be to hobble the engine and make it worse, namely lower power, and a big decrease in mpg.
There probably won’t be a decrease in power, as it was likely an aftertreatment issue (sizing, durability, cost cutting) that made them decide to use a defeat device. Cummins would retrofit every cheating engine with a brand new aftertreatment system at great cost rather than reduce the power of their engines. The brand damage of reducing power would far outweigh any repair and warranty costs.
This exact thing happened previously with the RAM eco diesel (2014-2016-ish). The ‘fix’ negatively impacted the performance of the truck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MmSUAOwpRY
Luckily my truck doesn’t have any emissions equipment, or after treatment garbage on it to worry about.
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Dieselgate II: Carbon Dioxide Boogaloo
Sounds like we need another EV charging network made that is treated like a redheaded stepchild like Electrify America is.
