Volvo Truck Vehicle Emissions Defect Blamed on Faulty Catalytic Converter

A defective catalytic converter has led to excessive Volvo truck vehicle emissions, according to an announcement by the company.

The Hill recently reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to address Volvo truck vehicle emissions problems.

“EPA is aware of the situation involving excess emissions from Volvo heavy-duty trucks. Over the last few weeks, EPA and the California Air Resources Board have been communicating with Volvo about the problem and are now continuing to meet with the company to develop plans to quickly address this situation,” an EPA spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill.

The automaker recently reported that it had discovered a defective part in its vehicles and reported the problem to authorities. According to Volvo, the cost to repair the malfunctioning part and resolve the emissions issue “could be material”.

The defect behind the Volvo truck vehicle emissions problems can be traced to a malfunctioning catalytic converter. Catalytic converters work to convert toxic emissions from an engine into less toxic products. The faulty catalyic converter is reportedly causing an excessive amount of nitrogen oxide Volvo truck vehicle emissions to be released by the heavy-duty vehicles.

When asked why the company had waited a couple of weeks before informing the public about the Volvo truck vehicle emissions problem, the company said that it needed to determine the scope of the issue and inform the authorities before taking further action.

“Authorities and legal bodies are normally informed prior to the markets because we inform them even if the problem is very, very small,” a Volvo representative said in a statement to Reuters.

Volvo has said that there are not plans yet to recall any of the trucks affected by the emissions problems, and regulatory authorities have not asked the company to initiate a recall.

The Volvo truck vehicle emissions issue raises concerns that the trucks affected by the defect could be releasing illegally high levels of emissions in violation of environmental protection laws. Within the first six months of 2018, Volvo delivered around 82,000 trucks to Europe and North America – meaning that the Volvo truck vehicle emissions problem could have a widespread effect.

The Volvo truck vehicle emissions issue is the latest in a series of emission scandals facing European automakers. In 2015, the German car maker Volkswagen was hit with a lawsuit by the EPA after admitting to installing emissions cheating devices in some of its diesel vehicles. The emissions cheating device was reportedly installed to allow Volkswagen to pass emissions tests without actually having to cut practical emission levels.

More recently, the vehicle manufacturer was ordered by German regulators to pay around $926 million in fines following findings from Audi, Volkswagen’s sister company.

There is no indication that Volvo truck vehicle emissions are related to an emissions cheating scheme. Instead, it is believed that the catalyst converter defect is a faulty component and not related to an emissions cheating device installed in any Volvo trucks.

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If you or your company owns Volvo heavy-duty trucks that include this faulty component that is causing illegal amounts of emissions to be released, you may be entitled to compensation.

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