EPA, CARB approves production & sale of diesel 2017 Ram 1500

2017 Ram Tradesman HFE Quad Cab available with 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel2017 Ram Tradesman HFE Quad Cab available with 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel

The wait is over.

FCA announced Friday that it had received a certificate of conformity from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a conditional executive order from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), permitting the production and sale of 2017 Ram 1500 and 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter diesel engines.

Approval from both agencies was the result of several months of collaboration between FCA and the EPA and CARB to address the agencies’ concerns with diesel emissions control technologies used on earlier model-year versions of Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles.

“The approvals announced today represent a significant step toward resolving the issues raised by EPA and ARB,” said FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne. “We appreciate the efforts of the agencies in working with us to achieve this milestone. We are anxious to build on this progress to make appropriate updates to the emissions control software in our earlier model-year vehicles.”

The 2017 updates include modified emissions software calibrations, with no required hardware changes. FCA expects that the modified calibrations will have no effect on the stated fuel economy or vehicle performance.

FCA intends to continue to work closely with both agencies and seek their permission to use a version of the modified software to update the emissions control systems in diesel-equipped 2014-2016 Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles, both of which received emissions violations notices from EPA and CARB in January.

FCA believes that the modified software can address the agencies’ concerns as to the emissions performance of those vehicles.