The SEC has charged Volkswagen and former CEO Martin Winterkorn with knowing about the diesel cheating going on at the company as early as 2007 — long before the diesel cheating scandal broke in 2015. Volkswagen vigorously denies the charge.
The Little Roady, an autonomous shuttle pilot project, now offers self-driving transport in Rhode Island, and it is an awardee of some of that VW dieselgate settlement funding. RIDOT (the Rhode Island Department of Transportation) is using these self-driving shuttles as a pilot project to fill a transit gap between its downtown-Providence Amtrak station and a business park across the river.
Big Auto’s executives have a long history of taking shots at Tesla. Now, two industry giants, VW and GM, have decided to dismiss the Silicon Valley automaker altogether and claim they’ll (instead) lead the EV revolution. Yet, their braggadocio, somehow, doesn’t seem to add up.
Recognising that Tesla is stealing their lunch, VW Group’s head Herbert Diess has bent the truth well beyond a breaking point in claiming that, by 2020, they will produce EVs that match Tesla’s characteristics but at half the price. VW has already recently revealed the real (and fairly sensible) figures on its most affordable 2020 ID Neo EV, so why now are they grossly exaggerating its price and characteristics, or lying about Tesla’s price? They must be getting desperate.
Over 700,000 diesel vehicles have to be recalled by Daimler because of the detection of illegal software. The affected models reportedly are the GLC sport-utility vehicle (SUV), C-Class sedan, and Vito vans. Fines are not part of the picture, nor are there any difficult hardware repairs.
Although the now infamous VW dieselgate scandal has tapered somewhat, the news media has turned its full attention from rightfully highlighting what the company did wrong to now, what it is doing right, or at least, what it has been imposed to do to benefit all of us. There are indeed things to be thankful for regarding how the VW settlement funds are being allocated.
Jaguar Land Rover says it will invest $18 billion in electrified powertrain technologies in the next 3 years. Ford says it will invest $11 billion in 7 years. Which company will still be around in 2025?
Prosecutors in Germany have whacked Volkswagen with a 1 billion Euro fine while a court has ruled a VW dealer must buy back a 2012 Passat TDI even though the statute of limitations has expired.
Where does smog (ozone) come from? Utilities like Duke and FPL do their share, but mostly, it’s from you and me, driving our cars. The good news is, you can DO something right now to cut smog down to healthier levels. Florida is getting $166 million from the VW diesel scandal settlement for clean transportation. We say it should all go for zero emission electric vehicles.
Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has now been charged by the US Justice Department with conspiracy in relation to the coverup at Volkswagen relating to the diesel vehicle emissions cheating scandal.
