The diesel dilemma seems to be widening. Today, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation to Fiat Chrysler, alleging that the automaker used software deliberately designed to cheat emissions testing on roughly 104,000 diesel-powered vehicles sold on the US market.
The EPA contends that FCA installed and failed to disclose engine management software that "results in increase emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from the vehicles." The allegations claim the software was used on 2014, 2015, and 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram 1500 models powered by FCA's 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 and badged as EcoDiesel.
Notably, the allegations do not affect Ram's heavy-duty 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks powered by the 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel inline-six.
"Once again, a major automaker made the business decision to skirt the rules and got caught," California Air Resources Board Chair Mary D. Nichols said in a co-statement released by the EPA. "CARB and U.S. EPA made a commitment to enhanced testing as the Volkswagen case developed, and this is a result of that collaboration."
According to the EPA's statement, "FCA did not disclose the existence of certain auxiliary emission control devices to EPA in its applications for certificates of conformity for model year 2014, 2015 and 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Ram 1500 trucks, despite being aware that such a disclosure was mandatory. By failing to disclose this software and then selling vehicles that contained it, FCA violated important provisions of the Clean Air Act."
The statement reveals that, in September 2015, the EPA instituted "an expanded testing program to screen for defeat devices on light duty vehicles." The testing found that the FCA vehicles in question produced increased NOx emissions under normal driving conditions. The EPA says that at least eight undisclosed pieces of software were found in the affected vehicles, which the agency says "can alter how a vehicle emits air pollution."
An EPA spokesperson said that the EPA is still assessing the exact amount of emissions allowed by the suspected defeat device, though the spokesperson confirmed that the undisclosed software "greatly affects" the operation of the affected vehicles.
As Automotive News reporter Larry Vellequette confirms, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne long maintained that a VW-style cheat was not being used by this automaker.
The responsibility now lies with FCA to convince the EPA that the undisclosed pieces of software are not, in fact, so-called defeat devices. From the EPA's description, the alleged software sounds nearly identical to the defeat devices discovered in Volkswagen Group diesel-powered vehicles, which allowed the vehicles to emit up to 40 times the legal limit of NOx emissions in real-world driving, while tailoring the vehicles' performance to meet the legal limit when the vehicle detected it was undergoing government emissions testing.
At the moment, the EPA's action is simply a Notice of Violation, meaning that model-year 2016 FCA vehicles with the affected 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6 can still be sold at dealerships. "If you own one of these vehicles, no immediate action is required of you," an EPA spokesperson said on a press call.
this is the first I'm hearing of FCA and/or the EcoDiesel. I've heard rumors of MB and BMW, but not Chrysler
for selling him a vehicle which polluted more. 
