In recent news announcements were made that a judge ruled Volkswagen would have until the end of March to come up with a real fix for the 600,000 vehicles that have been sold in the US with the emissions cheating software installed. This is not the only way Volkswagen is being asked to make up for its obvious cheating and the fact it built cars that would put out up to forty times the amount of acceptable emissions into the atmosphere. It seems the EPA has some ideas of their own to help make up for the cheating that was done.
Recently the EPA has asked Volkswagen to begin to produce electric vehicles at their Tennessee factory and help to build a network of electric car charging stations. This could seriously improve the overall infrastructure for EV cars which are currently limited to either the cities they reside in or areas that have these charging stations set up. This seems to be a fitting way to expect the company to make up for its cheating ways since this would allow the company to help the US become more capable in and environmentally friendly manner and create a much more accessible network of charging stations around the country.
Why has the EPA chosen this path? It may be because Volkswagen has showed us several EV models they plan to build since the scandal took place. Instead of allowing expansion in Germany the company could expand its operations here in the US, which would create more jobs for autoworkers, especially at the Tennessee plant for the company. It seems the EPA is after more than just money for the scandal that has taken place and expects Volkswagen will need to take some actions that will improve the relationship they have with the American public.
There hasn’t been any clarity to exactly what the EPA expects Volkswagen to do. The company already sells several hybrid models and even a few battery-electric vehicles in parts of the US, but the request isn’t completely clear as to what is being asked of the company. Neither side has been able to come to a conclusion as to the fix for the 600,000 vehicles affected by the scandal or the mass distrust the company has created for any diesel-powered vehicle regardless of the brand and make of the vehicle. While time is getting short for the imposed deadline and talks from both sides have been contentious at best, building charging stations and EV vehicles in the US would go a long way to making thigs right.
Will Volkswagen agree to help build our EV infrastructure? Are we going to enjoy the Budd-E microbus being built here instead of in Germany? that is still to be seen, but this is a great idea and could be used to benefit Volkswagen after the trouble that has been caused by its test cheating products that have been polluting our atmosphere much more than they should have been allowed to.