Volkswagen, the US investigating five other brands. In Italy 648,458 hot rods – The Messenger

The United States raise the bar. It aimed to investigate whether violations of the anti-smog by ‘faulty devices, such as Volkswagen, are a common practice in the automotive industry.

The Agency for Environmental Protection – reports the Financial Times – thus expands the ongoing investigation on diesel cars with six other automakers. This is BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Land Rover and Mercedes Benz. The tests to verify compliance with the rules will be conducted on 28 models of diesel vehicles: BMW X3, the Chrysler Grand Cherokee, the Chevrolet Colorado GM, the Range Rover TDV6 and E250 BlueTec Mercede.

The initial tests will be performed on vehicles, one for each model: if there are suspicions the survey will be extended to other cars of the same model. The cars will be examined belong to rental car companies or owners identified by the registration statistics. The owners selected, the EPA will provide a rental car while their is subjected to the tests, along with a wash or a free oil change. Diesel cars represent a small share of the American car market and are more prevalent in Europe.

The US authorities did not need the collaboration of automakers to conduct new tests. In a letter sent to the manufacturers in recent days, the Agency for Environmental Protection has warned that it would strengthen controls on vehicle emissions. The EPA has identified at least 482,000 Volkswagen cars in the US with diesel engines equipped with faulty devices, whose software is able to identify when the car is subjected to a laboratory test and switch modes to reduce emissions. Once the controls are on the road again changed automatically and the car emits more nitrogen oxide 40 times above the permitted levels.