Search Results Found For: "Dirty Diesel Debacle "

Are plug-in hybrids the next Dieselgate?

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) don’t get much respect in the EV industry these days. They’re the epitome of a transitional technology, and it would be hard to argue that many of them justify their price premiums over plain hybrids. It’s widely believed that, thanks to ill-considered government incentives, many PHEVs are bought by drivers who never… Read more »

New book: the Dieselgate scandal was not an isolated incident, was not a secret, and is not over

The “Dieselgate scandal,” or as we like to call it, the “dirty diesel debacle,” was a catalytic event (pun intended). It led to some major changes at Volkswagen, and shook up the European auto market. However, only time will tell how much of this change will prove to be permanent. The Volkswagen Group has announced… Read more »

Miami middle-school student inspires school board to electrify its school bus fleet

Electric school buses seem like a no-brainer at this point—although they cost two to three times more up front than diesel buses, at about $230,000 each, they save money in the long run, as fuel and maintenance costs are about 80 percent lower. They’re also prime candidates for future vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, which could generate… Read more »

Cummins to pay $1.6-billion fine for installing VW-style emissions cheating devices

Here we go again. The scandal that we dubbed VW’s Dirty Diesel Debacle opened a lot of folks’ eyes to the true priorities of automakers and other corporations. As reported in these pages, VW was truly sorry that it got caught, and performed several acts of contrition—it bought back a fraction of the defective cars,… Read more »

Pinellas County, Florida installs DC fast chargers to prepare for electric school buses

Pinellas County, Florida, the home of your favorite EV magazine, will soon be one of the first counties in the state to deploy electric school buses. The Pinellas County School District has (finally) received a $5.5-million grant from the 2016 Dirty Diesel Debacle settlement with Volkswagen. School districts in Broward, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach… Read more »

Florida awards VW settlement funding: $68 million for electric transit buses, $57 million for school buses

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $68 million in grants for the purchase of 227 electric transit buses in 13 counties. The funds came from Florida’s $166-million share of Volkswagen’s $15-billion federal settlement for the Dirty Diesel Debacle. The electric buses will replace existing diesel buses in Alachua, Broward, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Leon,… Read more »

The auto industry is finally advertising its EVs

Over the past few years, we in the EV media have been highly critical of automakers for failing to advertise their EVs (and then claiming that there’s no consumer demand for them). So it’s only fair that we praise them now that they’re starting to release some pro-EV ad spots. Several TV campaigns have referred… Read more »

EU regulators charge BMW, Daimler and VW with colluding to evade emissions rules

Are the authorities “piling on” the Volkswagen Group? In 2017, the poor little automaker pleaded guilty to fraud and obstruction of justice in the dirty diesel debacle, and has already agreed to shell out some $30 billion in atonement. Now the mean old US Securities and Exchange Commission has sued the company and ex-CEO Martin… Read more »

VW heralds the last generation of ICE vehicles

Since its humiliation in the Dirty Diesel Debacle, the Volkswagen Group has been preaching the EV gospel with the zeal of the newly converted. Several automakers have forecast that substantial percentages of their sales would soon consist of plug-in vehicles, but as far as we know VW is the first to set a date for… Read more »

Electrify America begins building a nationwide network of metro, highway, workplace and community chargers

The two-billion-dollar 10-year investment represents the largest of its kind so far. In the chaos that is human affairs, bad intentions sometimes eventually lead to good results. As atonement for Volkswagen’s criminal actions in what we like to call the Dirty Diesel Debacle, government regulators have forced the automaker to invest substantial resources in promoting… Read more »