exclusive
According to information from BR and “Spiegel”, the Federal Motor Transport Authority demands clarification from Mercedes-Benz about critical and presumably inadmissible defeat devices in an EU 6 engine. Vehicle decommissioning is an option.
The letter from the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) dates from the beginning of July and is eight pages long. It lies BR research and the “mirror”. The authority outlines in detail three shutdown devices that it demonstrated during examinations of the engine control software of a Mercedes E-Class 350 Blue TEC with a Euro 6 engine (OM642). The KBA rates them as “critical or inadmissible”.
In one of the strategies discovered, the diesel vehicle’s emissions control system only works in a certain outside temperature range. The European Court of Justice declared such so-called “thermal windows” inadmissible last year. Another strategy ensures that different amounts of a urea solution are injected into the exhaust gas purification system depending on certain driving conditions.
Detailed or sufficient reasons for the permissibility of the defeat device […] were not submitted by you,” states the KBA. The authority is also critical of the fact that a third strategy ensures that the effectiveness of the SCR catalytic converter depends on the temperature of the air that is sucked in during exhaust gas purification.
KBA threatens to decommission vehicles
The automaker was supposed to notify “appropriate remedial measures” by July 27. Otherwise, the KBA reserves the right to inform the local registration authorities so that they can consider an “operating ban” – i.e. a shutdown of the vehicles.
According to information from BR and “Spiegel”, the company successfully applied for an extension of this deadline. In the next few weeks, Mercedes-Benz will have to explain to the authorities how to proceed. The Federal Ministry of Transport, to which the KBA reports, is also involved.
Group: “We are cooperating fully”
A Mercedes spokesman confirmed the incident upon request. “We have been in discussions with the KBA for a long time about the functionalities you described,” he said. The hearing process is still ongoing and the authority’s final decision on the matter remains to be seen. “We are cooperating fully,” the spokesman continued.
It is still unclear how many vehicles are involved. In the letter, the KBA asked Mercedes-Benz to “report the number of vehicles produced within a certain period of time […] In the end, several thousand vehicles could be affected. The company did not want to comment on further details “in ongoing proceedings”.
For this reason, the KBA also refused to provide a detailed statement. In writing, the authority simply stated: “The process concerns a model that has been in a voluntary software update measure by the manufacturer since 2019.”
The diesel scandal has strained the relationship between KBA, the ministry and Mercedes-Benz for years. The authorities had repeatedly ordered recalls of Mercedes diesel models due to suspected inadmissible defeat devices. The company is defending itself against this before the administrative court in Schleswig. According to the company, the process is at an early stage and “we do not yet know the negotiation dates.”
Environmental aid sees itself confirmed by the KBA letter
The German Environmental Aid (DUH) sees the KBA’s assessment as confirming its position, which it has held for years, that this involves illegal manipulation of emissions software. In addition to this case, DUH boss Jürgen Resch is calling on the Federal Ministry of Transport to publish all emissions measurements and documents on “officially established defeat devices” so that “the almost ten million owners of fraudulent diesel vehicles can finally be helped to enforce their rights”.