Is this the naughty NOx engine that's going to cost VW $billions?

 

According to the latest I've read on this subject, the EA189 engines are one of the engines which are at the centre of this scandal and have been fitted to some Skoda's in Europe.......I've not checked in which vehicles these were fitted in the Skoda range. Anyone know?

 

Extract from a Wikipedia article on the VW problem imply yes some Yeti's could be affected.
"Volkswagen has also stated that 11 million vehicles sold worldwide are affected in addition to the 480,000 vehicles with 2.0L TDI engines sold in the US. According to Volkswagen, vehicles sold in other countries with the 1.5L 4-cylinder TDI engine known as Type EA189 are also affected. The EA189 TDI is a 2.0L four-cylinder engine which includes the incriminated Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology. This software is also said to affect EA188 and the 2015 EA288 generation of the four-cylinder.^"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_emissions_violations

Skoda models are not mentioned asI do not believe that they are sold in the USA.

 

Skoda is not sold in the US and none of the engines in that range fitted to Yeti's have SCR.(As I understand it)

 

As I understand it SCR is the AdBlue technology that has recently made its appearance in the MY2016 diesel engines and if as suggested in the Wiki article the software is the same and it is the software that is the cause of the violation then the latestYeti's could be affected. As it's not sold in the US it's never been emissions tested under US regulations but presumably has under EU and other country rules.
There seems to be a general level of confusion and mis-information on the subject from the national press. Todays i was stating under a by-line of How it Works " Engineers say keeping the controls on full-time adds weight and cost to the car - it requires another tank of liquid." So how does the clever software use the liquid when the car is undergoing emission tests and then remove the whole tank when not?

 

This article states that the 500,000 recalled cars in the US include both those with SCR (Adblue) systems and those without; it also surmises what the VW SW actually did (on page 2 of the article):

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100125_vw-diesel-emissions-recall-what-you-need-to-know-in-10-questions

Based on discussions with knowledgeable sources, we surmise that once an emissions test was detected, VW got the affected TDI engines to meet the Tier 2, Bin 5 NOx limits by reducing the fuel flow rate. This would reduce performance, but most likely not to the point where the car couldn't complete the emission cycles.Lowering fuel flow would also reduce combustion temperatures and/or the duration of high-temperature operation enough to keep NOx emissions barely within EPA limits.If the car detected that it was no longer in "testing mode" but had returned to "driving mode," it would restore fuel flow to the regular level--which would send NOx emissions soaring.The odd thing is that this software feature seems to have persisted into the company's newest generation of 2.0-liter TDI diesels, a heavily revised design known as EA288, which was intended to be fitted with urea aftertreatment systems--which allow other makers to meet the NOx limits under all circumstances.

 

I have had confirmation that my Yeti has one of the affected engines. It seems a little premature to run off to a lawyer but it would be good to hear from similarly affected owners so that, when the time comes, we can act together and share information. meanwhile can anyone tell me
1. are the emissions WAY over acceptable in civilised society? More than a van, lorry or bus?
2. can we ignore the recall and still remain legal?
3. Does anyone know for certain whether performance and/or fuel economy will be affected?

I'm surprised this issue isn't setting the ( Yeti focused) Internet alight- but perhaps it is still early days.