The EPA recently announced that diesel emissions defeat devices were no longer its top priority, instead shifting its focus to stricter regulation of PFAS and other environmental issues. A tuning business in Idaho recently discovered that the long arm of the law stretches beyond the EPA’s designated priorities when it was fined $1 million for selling diesel emissions defeat devices.
GDP Tuning LLC, commonly known as Gorilla Performance, was fined $1 million for selling “tens of thousands of tuning devices,” which allowed diesel vehicle owners to bypass emissions control components. Despite its announcement of a shift in focus, the EPA has punished other tuners to the same extent this year, including Sinister Diesel, which received a $1 million fine earlier this month.
The EPA claims that Gorilla Performance and its owner, Barry Pierce, provided gadgets and “accompanying software” that “tampered with vehicles’ onboard diagnostic systems when used together.” Such a song is known in the industry as a “delete,” and the feds are not pleased.
Gorilla Performance and connected organizations will most likely be barred from selling diesel defeat devices and related components, as these things tend to go. The shop will almost certainly be barred from disclosing its intellectual property or techniques underlying the devices or their installation.
