The California Air Resources Board published details on a settlement with Stellantis for violating the board’s air quality regulations.
Even after previous emissions-related settlements in 2019 and 2022, FCA US LLC (the American arm of Netherlands-based Stellantis, N.V.) is still paying out fines to resolve investigations into diesel emissions on certain Ram vehicles. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) published an announcement on Monday regarding the nearly $4.2 million in civil penalties the automaker has to pay for its noncompliance with state emissions rules.
In its investigation, CARB found that 2014 through 2016 Ram ProMaster 1500, 2500 and 3500 vans contained defeat devices meant to circumvent emissions control. As a result, the van’s engines allowed for greater emissions than allowed by state regulations. Over the course of their time on the road, impacted vans emitted 55 tons of excess nitrogen oxides into the air.
FCA will be required to pay a $2 million civil penalty to CARB’s Air Pollution Control Fund as part of the settlement. In addition to that, it will have to pay $2,092,910 to fund another environment protection project through the Ventura County Air Pollution Control district, called the Marine Vessel Speed Reduction Incentive Program. The program provides incentives for ocean-going cargo vessels to run at slower speeds during whale and high-ozone seasons, to reduce their impact on the local air quality.
As part of the settlement, the automaker agreed to recall affected Ram ProMaster vans and modify the emissions control system to be compliant with state emissions regulations. That change sounds similar to how the company handled emissions for other cars and trucks equipped with the first-generation 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engine, though the initial recall and update yielded poor performance results for owners.
Stellantis already paid another $5.6 million settlement in 2022, to settle similar emissions defeat allegations from its gas-powered vehicles. Earlier settlements to resolve investigations from the U.S. Justice Department and CARB resulted in more than $800 million in penalties against the automaker.
While it’s been a little while since we’ve reviewed an internal combustion-powered ProMaster, we have had some time in the exact opposite of the EcoDiesel van, the ProMaster EV, below:
