Today, Volkswagen AG announced the Executive Committee had held a marathon 7-hour meeting to discuss the current status of mitigation of VW’s manipulation of diesel exhaust emissions tests. The press release (below) says recommendations will be given to the Supervisory board, but doesn’t give much in the way of details.…
Earlier we saw a report from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) who showed the Dieselgate misbehavior affects not just Volkswagen/Audi 2.0 liter TDI Diesels, but cars from other manufacturers, even ones running on gasoline. That report has gained enough attention that BMW had to respond, since one of its vehicles was…
Is the only way Volkswagen can repair its image is to completely erase Diesel engines from its car line-up, and to completely switch to plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles? That’s what Robert Llewellyn says in this rant. Why is his opinion important? In addition to being an actor, TV show…
Now that we’ve spent a week learning about emissions test cheating at Volkswagen, this new information shouldn’t be surprising: Volkswagen was warned at least twice against cheating. Both Volkswagen’s own staff and one of its suppliers, Bosch, warned against efforts to detect and thwart emissions tests, according to reports in the…
A week ago the automotive world was put into turmoil over news that Volkswagen had, allegedly, committed widespread fraud with their emissions test results. Specific Volkswagen and Audi vehicles were emitting lots more pollution than allowed, while their EPA emissions ratings garnered praise and government subsidies by supposedly being the cleanest Diesel vehicles…
With 11 million VW 2 liter TDI Diesel cars emitting 10-40x the NOx pollution they’re allowed, what’s the effect on the environment? According to reporters at The Guardian, it adds up to 1 million tonnes extra NOx in the atmosphere. Those 11 million cars were bought under a promise of being ultra…
Today, Volkswagen announced the “Dieselgate” scandal – VW’s cheating on emissions ratings – affects at least 11 million Volkswagen cars sold world-wide, and that the company is setting aside 6.5 billion euros, or about $7.3 billion — to cover the cost of fixing the cars to comply with pollution standards and…
VW’s inaccurate emissions tests for 2009-15 TDI Diesel passenger cars was not an “accident”, according to the EPA. It’s not like VW’s engineers misconfigured some testing equipment and accidentally came up with bogus numbers. You might do that one year, like Hyundai/Kia did, but a company like Volkswagen would not…
It’s been a tumultuous weekend for the Volkswagen Group. Last weeks announcement that the EPA and CARB are investigating the company over allegations that VW had fabricated TDI Diesel car emissions results has thrown a monkey wrench into the credibility of not only the VW Group but the whole system of validating emissions…
Before the VW Group follows through on their promise of electric car leadership by 2018, VW has to face an EPA and California investigation over evasion of emissions laws. Within minutes of publishing my previous piece saying the VW Group may be in the opening stanza’s of an electric vehicle symphony,…
A couple years ago, the VW Group promised that by 2018ish VW would be a electric vehicle major player. With the Audi e-tron quattro concept electric SUV, and the Porsche Mission E, and the VW e-Golf, we may be seeing the opening stanza’s in what may become a fully electrified automotive…
Volkswagen has promised that by 2017 the company will be a (?the?) leader in electrified vehicles. Apparently they mean the word “electrified” to include Fuel Cell Vehicles, because of a deal just announced between VW and Ballard. The agreement has VW paying Ballard $50 million so VW will have…
Why should Tesla Model S owners be the only EV owners capable of taking long distant trips? What’s needed is fast charging infrastructure located along highways between major cities supporting cars other than Tesla’s. Existing DCFC infrastructure for the rest of us is only been located inside cities, and not…
Volkswagen recently announced details of the 2015 VW e-Golf electric car, that’s slated to go on sale in the U.S. in the 4th quarter of 2014. Going by the press release it should be an excellent electric car, and will finally justify VW’s role in helping the SAE delay the…
