The report from Germany is that there are two steps to this fix, with the obvious one being new engine software that will remove the existing cheat software and change fuel and air ratios.
The other part of the process involves installing a “flow transformer”, which is a plastic grate that’s meant to help even the air flow going into the mass flow sensor. That sensor helps determine how much air goes into the engine, which then determines how much fuel needs to be injected to create an ignition and make the car go.
Apparently, the correction should only take around 20 minutes to complete.
At this stage the fix is only for European vehicles, although cars powered by 3 liter diesel engines can be fixed anywhere with just a software update.
No one in VW is saying how the software will affect fuel economy considering that the original software achieved its results by cheating emissions tests.
The cheating software covered diesel powered cars from Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.
This resulted in $41.5 billion wiped from the company’s value, up to $25 billion in penalties from the US alone, on top of the costs to recall and fix 11 million cars worldwide.
On top of the fines, the company has set aside $10 billion for rectification work and compensation claims, but that figure could. Estimates are that it may cost the company $77 billion.
