Recalled Volkswagen Diesels Still Might Not Meet U.S. Standards
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Volkswagen recently reached a settlement with U.S. regulators in their infamous Dieselgate lawsuit. The German automaker's wallet is now $15.3 billion lighter and they are now beginning to invest in more environmentally friendly ventures, but after everything that has gone on leading up to this settlement, many of these "clean" diesels might still fall short of meeting U.S. clean air laws once they are recalled and repaired.
The settlement, which was released on June 28, shows that VW's oldest 2.0 liter diesels covered by this case -- which was used in Jetta, Golf, and Beetle models as far back as 2009 -- will still emit more pollution than allowed under the same emissions standards that the manufacturer tried to evade in the first place.
To compensate for this fact, VW has agreed, as part of the settlement, to donate as much as $10 billion to buy back affected vehicles and compensate drivers. It will also pay $2.7 billion to federal regulators and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to fund pollution-reducing projects, as well as another $2 billion to invest in clean technologies.
CARB also says that after the affected vehicles are repaired, their emissions will be cut between 80 and 90 percent. But even at that rate, regulators estimate that the "fixed" diesels could still emit 40 times the amount of NOx than is allowed under the law. So even at a 90 percent reduction, the cars would still fail to comply with current clean-air legislation.
