Exclusive
Status: 04/14/2023 2:00 p.m
According to information from BR and “Spiegel” are appealing against the recent thermal window judgment of the Schleswig Administrative Court. In the specific case, it was a Golf variant with a diesel engine.
The diesel scandal continues to haunt the VW group. This time, however, the car manufacturer is taking care of it itself. He wants to take legal action against a judgment by the Schleswig Administrative Court.
On February 20, 2023, the court ruled that the Federal Motor Transport Authority had wrongly approved a software update for a VW Golf Plus TDI with engine type EA189 in 2016. “The release was not allowed because the use of a so-called thermal window for exhaust gas recirculation is an inadmissible defeat device,” the court said at the time. The 93-page written justification for the judgment is now also available.
Thermal windows have been a source of controversy for years
The widespread use of thermal windows in the automotive industry has been controversial for years. The software programming of the engine control ensures that diesel vehicles are only really clean on the road in a certain temperature range – for example on the test bench for exhaust gas measurements.
There, the vehicles achieve the necessary exhaust gas values, but usually emit too many dangerous nitrogen oxides during normal operation. After the European Court of Justice declared the use of these strategies inadmissible, the Administrative Court of Schleswig followed this line.
In the specific case, the German Environmental Aid (DUH) had sued the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), based in Flensburg, at the Schleswig Administrative Court for the release of a software update for the VW Golf Plus TDI 2.0 model. VW sold such vehicles from 2008 to 2014. When the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made the VW diesel scandal public in September 2015, this model was also affected.
The KBA then requested a software update from Volkswagen. However, the exhaust strategies for the so-called thermal window were not removed. That’s what the court wants now.
Volkswagen continues to argue with engine protection
Volkswagen is considered to be a party to the Schleswig proceedings and can therefore take action against the verdict.
The decision overlooks the fact that the temperature-dependent exhaust gas recirculation in the vehicles concerned protects against direct risks to the engine in the form of damage or accidents. These weigh so heavily that they can pose a specific risk when operating the vehicle. From the manufacturer’s point of view, it would have been irresponsible to bring vehicles with such risks onto the market,”
so VW at the request of BR and “mirror”.
According to the group, around 88,000 vehicles are affected by the verdict. According to VW, it is not known how many are still on the road. “Until the final clarification, there is no threat of official shutdowns of vehicles or hardware upgrades because of the thermal windows,” Volkswagen continues.
KBA intends to continue examining the court decision
It is not yet clear how the defendant KBA will act in this matter. According to a spokesman, the authority wants to further examine the court decision. She still has about two weeks to do that. According to the written reasons for the judgment, several options are conceivable for VW – a software update that removes all impermissible defeat devices, as well as a “hardware solution”, according to the administrative court.