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Volkswagen To Pay $10.2 Billion In Emissions Lawsuit (bbc.co.uk)
Reader Khashishi writes: Slashdot has been following the story of Volkswagen manipulating diesel emissions tests for some time now. The control software contained algorithms which reduced emissions during testing but not during normal driving. Well, now Volkswagen has agreed to pay $10.2 billion (alternate source: BBC) to settle the case, according to Associated Press. This is higher than the $430 million damages estimated in this story. It appears that vehicle owners will have the choice of fixing their cars or selling them back. Most of the money will go towards fixing the cars, buying them back, and compensating owners.
They brought the smoke-filled room to the consumer. Hope they choke on their fine.
When they cheat, we're all defrauded out of our right to clean air. Obviously you're part of the problem.
I'm sure all those line employees who were there in the 1940s are very sorry about it.
Straight money costs to companies are wrong. They effect the economic viability of companies and put jobs, and economies at risk while costing consumers.
A better approach would be a forced share dilution of significant proportion, 10,25 or 50% or more. This would not impact the economic viability of the company and would affect the value held by those supposedly actually in control of the company, the shareholders and the executives with share values.
It would then be up to the government who then owned the new shares to decide to immediately sell and drop the share price or hold on for higher value later.
The government would get money. There would be a punishment on the company, but the basic operation of the company would be lower.
Ahh, would modern vehicles weigh a mere three-quarters ton. Try closer to 3 tons. And that's before she gets into the car!
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Better to just dump that $10 billion dollars in to a non profit electric car research institute.
How much better batteries can you design on a $10 billion dollar budget?
The Tesla gigafactory cost $5 billion, for an idea of how much $10.5 billion dollars in research would buy you.
moox. for a new generation.
Does a diesel which gets nearly 50 MPG cause more pollution than a soccer mom and her 3/4 ton grocery getter does?
Apparently it does if it's a Volkswagen.
Why doesn't Slashdot have the mod option for REKT?
Given the different elements in this scandal, I am a bit skeptical that these VWs can be truly "fixed". Does VW really have some fix up their sleeve that will truly give the owners what they *thought* they purchased from an emissions and fuel economy standpoint? Never mind whatever effect on resale value.
I have owned a few VWs but never again a VW Group product for me. I couldn't trust them. If I owned one of these diesels I would be looking to get my money back completely.
If any cars are bought back by VW, I'd bet most of them will show up in sub-Saharan Africa, driven by folks wearing Golden State 2016 NBA Champs t-shirts.
Can't wait for these cars to be "recycled" through the Pre-Owned market with no warranty of any kind, but sold for a third of what they should be.
I love the TDI engine, who cares if it pollutes? I have no kids and I'm over 50 -- I ain't living forever.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
So a few months ago, because I could not find the information anywhere on the entire internet, I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation to estimate how much more polluted the air in the U.S. is as a result of the VW emissions cheat. The answer is that the air is about zero percent more polluted because of that cheat.
The reason for that is that baseline emissions of diesel exhaust pollutants in the U.S. is so enormous. Commercial diesel tractor trailers emit pollutants at a much higher rate than do VW cars because the engines are so much larger and consume fuel at higher rates. The trucks run many more miles per years than the cars. There are many more diesel trucks than diesel cars. (There a lot of trucks and VW diesel cars are not huge sellers in the U.S.) So the net percentage increase in pollution because of that cheat calculates out to about zero.
VW is worth a lot of money and has not much political clout in the U.S. so this turned into feeding frenzy for lawyers. Penalties of this size are entirely unjustified by the degree of harm.
There should be a price for polluting, based strictly on the types and volumes of pollutants, and it should be applied to all, regardless of the type of vehicle or its nation of origin, or its owner. The right solution here is to tax vehicle exhaust emissions at a single universal rate and let manufacturers and buyers decide what to make and what to buy.
What we have instead is sanctioned pillaging.
Ceci n'est pas une signature.
I'd wager that these VW vehicles would still comply with the the emission limits of, say, five years ago. Yet, baby seals weren't jettisoned out of the earth towards the sun then.
Yes - depending on what kind of pollution you are referring to. A diesel which burns hot will reduce local air quality and generate particulates that result in acid rain. If you are referring to CO2 - then no, the diesel will be much better.
BP payed more... but not much more for doing far more damage!
Wasn't their settlement about $20 billion?
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
From TFA: "Most of the money would go to compensate 482,000 owners" and "$1,000 to $7,000 depending on their cars' age, with an average payment of $5,000"
Not sure about the rest of you but I get $21K per owner when I divide that out, not $5K.
Partuculates don't cause acid rain - it is just carbon soot, not very nice to the lungs, but not an acid. Sulfur dioxide exhaust causes acid rain and nowadays the ships are the hughest producers of such exhaust because ships don't run it through quicklime scrubbers.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Needs -1 Asshole mod.
I wasn't aware that one needed to be a leftist environmental whacko for not wanting to allow huge industrial concerns to poison our air.
Thanks for educating me.
A prime example of why the Paris Accord limits will never be achieved.
VW, Mitsubishi and thousands of other companies will continue to search for ways to get around emission controls, and anything else that is not in the interest of their shareholders.
USB, USB, USB!
Wasn't there some deal floated, where they'd do penance in the US, by committing to electrifying most of their car fleet?
I would absolutely love to see this, just to show the world that the West can still do great things, and to punish the Gulf Arabs, who are after millenia, still attacking, robbing and white-anting us at every opportunity. We have better uses for all that money, and it's better spent on ourselves, rather than propping up shit countries and shit cultures.
Just one word..... "oooouch"
if they have an algorithm that reduces output during tests, and not driving, why not apply that algorithm as well during actual driving?
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
I'm interested to know if other readers are aware of or can point to information about similar motor vehicle damages being levied by the US Government over the years?
This is an entirely subjective statement - which is why I'm being cautious and inviting correction - but it strikes me that this is a pretty harsh fine and one specifically levied against a non-US company. Are there similar findings against US companies to compare with it?
For example: this is a case of a company mis-stating the emissions capabilities of vehicles and the fine is $10 Billion. When Ford fitted faulty Bridgestone tyres to their cars following the recall in 2000/2001, Bridgestone ended up paying Ford $240 Million, but I found no mention of a Federal fine. 271 people were killed by faulty tyres...
On July 26th 2015 The Department of Transport levied "Record Fines" against Fiat-Chrysler involving a *safety defect* and they were fined $105 Million.
On May 16th 2014 the Department of Transported levied a fine of $35 Milion against General Motors relating a failure of the manufacturer to provide a timely report of a safety defect to the Department of Transport.
Now, I'm not suggesting that what Volkswagen did was not totally and utterly wrong, but there are orders of magnitude differences between the fines being levied against VW and those of US or part-US companies. This looks a lot like some kind of shake-down or protectionist racket. Or did I miss other cases against other US or foreign companies that debunk this theory?
Genuinely not looking for a flame-war here, not trying to troll. But very interested to know if the community sees this as a consistently applied set of punishments or not?
Yeah design a vehicle where the brakes fail in a very detectable way and not bother warning you that your brakes will no longer function the way you're used to. Fuck them.
But they do, all VW's have a big white inflatable thing that warns you the brakes have failed.
As if Ford did any better during WW II in Germany. Ford still refuses to compensate the forced labor workers...as does IBM and Coca-Cola. And neither of their factories in Germany were damaged a lot. Also, the Bush clan made its riches by collaborating with Nazi Germany and profiting off forced labor camps. There is a lot of blame to go around.
I am a cyclist and don't even own a car, just corrected a wrong notion.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
World War II already paid for for the US in the 1950s, if that's what you're wondering.
Ezekiel 23:20
It was, according to independent testing and according to VW's marketing: More powerful than gasoline cars, more fuel efficient, and less polluting. The fix, whatever it is, will probably reduce the power available, or reduce fuel economy, in order to bring it within limits. Probably reducing power. So I bought the based on false pretenses. Oh, and I paid more for it than I would have for a gasoline vehicle.
So, yeah, I was definitely defrauded. Of potentially several thousand dollars.
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Average weight is 4,000lbs., which would be 2 tons (2,000lbs to 1 ton). Even a Smart Car top 3/4 ton at 1800lbs.
I can care less some embearded hipster feels he was defrauded by VW.
So you're with us then! Glad to have you on board.
Even a Smart car? I can't find any car currently on sale that light. The smallest cars from the first few manufacturers that popped into my head:
VW Up: 940kg
Renault Twingo: 1000kg
Toytoa Aygo: 890kg
Mitsubishi Mirage: 895kg
Opel Adam: 1086kg
Audi A1: 1105kg
Nissan Micra: 1044kg
Mazda 2: 1043kg