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The Engadget Podcast Ep 24: The Biggest Lie
Senior editors Edgar Alvarez and Devindra Hardawar join host Terrence O'Brien to discuss the biggest stories of the week, including Facebook's Journalism Project and the Emoji takeover of Monopoly. Then they'll talk about Volkswagen's massive settlement and pending indictments. Plus they'll try to recap Dieselgate without messing up the timeline.
VW pleads guilty in US emissions scandal, will pay $4.3 billion
Volkswagen has agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle criminal and civil charges brought by the United States Justice Department over the company's use of emissions-cheating technology in millions of its diesel vehicles sold around the world, the AP reports. As part of the settlement, the company plead guilty to three criminal charges and it will be required to work with an independent monitor for three years. Overall, this is the largest penalty handed down to an automaker in US history.
VW's I.D. Buzz concept is a self-driving, electric microbus
As Volkswagen works towards rebuilding itself as an EV automaker, one great way to avoid losing diehard fans is to clean up and refresh a few of those old classics that won them over in the first place. While the company has teased electric reincarnations of the iconic VW bus before, the company's latest microbus concept, the I.D. Buzz, is the first to go all out with a fully autonomous driving mode.
Regulators approve VW plan to fix 70,000 more diesel vehicles
Before it can reinvent itself as an EV automaker, Volkswagen still has to clean up the remnants of the ongoing Dieselgate scandal that has cost the company billions in buyback programs, repairs and class action settlements. With so many different models affected, VW has also had a difficult time getting regulators to approve it fixes. However, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board announced Friday that they have approved the company's plans to repair about 70,000 Generation 3 2-liter engine vehicles.
Volkswagen is adding Amazon Alexa to its cars
Ford isn't the only auto company adding Amazon's Alexa to its cars -- Volkswagen plans to do the same. From the quick demo I had on the CES show floor, it seems like a pretty smart pairing. VW's Alexa-enabled cars will basically have full access to everything the Echo can do, but the company built its own skill to enable a handful of car-centric features.
VW's latest acquisition helps you pay for parking by phone
Volkswagen wants to turn itself into more of a mobility company than a pure automaker, and it just made an acquisition that should help make that a reality. It's snapping up PayByPhone, a Canadian company that lets you pay for parking through smartphone apps, calls and text messages. The terms of the deal are hush-hush, but PayByPhone handles about $300 million in transactions per year across major cities that include Boston, London, Paris, San Francisco and Seattle.
VW to pour $200 million more into an anti-pollution fund
Believe it or not, Volkswagen still isn't done paying for its diesel emissions scandal. Reuters understands that the car maker has agreed to pay over $200 million extra into a US Environmental Protection Agency fund devoted to reducing pollution created by VW's diesel emissions cheating. The company had already agreed to spend $2.7 billion over three years, but the extra money will cover the 80,000 3-liter diesels that violated emissions limits -- previously, it was only accounting for 2-liter vehicles. Barring surprises, the deal could be made official as soon as the 19th.
VW's new company aims for on-demand self-driving cars
Like other automakers, Volkswagen sees the writing on the wall: it knows that there won't be as much of a reason to own a car in the future between ridesharing (like that of its partner, Gett) and self-driving cars. Accordingly, it's creating a company to prepare for that future. Moia (Sanskrit for "magic") is a new, stand-alone mobility firm that will offer services in between mass transit and personal car ownership. Conventional ridesharing is the "first step," VW says, but definitely not the only one.
Car makers plan grid of super-fast EV chargers in Europe
It's all well and good to create electric car charging networks to help you on long drives, but merely having stations isn't enough. What use are abundant chargers if you spend ages waiting for your battery to replenish? Thankfully, at least some big automakers are aware of this. BMW, Daimler, Ford and the Volkswagen Auto Group are forming a joint venture that will install a grid of super-fast EV chargers along major European highways. And we do mean fast -- they could supply up to 350kW of power, or nearly triple the 120kW that Tesla Superchargers offer. So long as your car supported that kind of input, you could be back on the road in several minutes.
A new supersonic jet, and more in the week that was
Tesla currently makes the world's best electric vehicles, but Jaguar's first EV could give the automaker a run for its money. Meet the I-Pace: a svelte, stylish electric SUV that's faster than most sports cars and can drive 220 miles on a single charge. In other auto news, a new law requires all electric vehicles to make noise by the year 2019, and VW's new e-Golf can drive further than the Nissan Leaf at 124 miles per charge. Long-haul flights are the worst, but a new supersonic jet called the Boom could cut them in half. And Noordung launched a stylish vintage-inspired e-bike with a built-in sound system.
Volkswagen will reinvent itself as an EV maker
There may be something of a silver lining to Volkswagen's corrupt attempts to cheat emissions tests with its diesel and gas vehicles. The company, reeling from the fines it'll pay for its misdeeds, has announced a radical plan to overhaul itself. It's called "Pact for the Future," and sees the carmaker making a huge commitment to build more electric vehicles, reshape its business and clean up its working practices. Change, however, comes at a price, and in this case it's that the company will shed up to 30,000 jobs.
VW says Audi software can distort emissions during tests
No, the Volkswagen Auto Group's emission cheating scandal isn't done unfolding. VW has confirmed earlier reports (including one from Suddeutsche Zeitung) that Audi software can distort emissions during tests. Cars with automatic transmissions can change their shift patterns in a way that lowers carbon dioxide and nitric oxide emissions, making it appear as if the vehicles are more eco-friendly than they are during typical driving. The transmission normally adapts based solely on the driving conditions, VW says.
Audi reportedly cheated gas engine emissions tests, too
The California Air Resources Board has reportedly discovered that even more VW-Group vehicles were cheating emissions tests. The WSJ and Reuters (via German paper Bild) are talking about how regulators have found software in Audi cars that effectively masked their CO2 output under examination. The revelations were apparently made up to four months ago, but neither Volkswagen, Audi or CARB have made the news public.
VW will begin buying back diesel vehicles in mid-November
Volkswagen's ongoing diesel emissions scandal puttered forward again today as a US federal judge finally approved the $14.7 billion settlement between the automaker and owners of some 475,000 diesel vehicles. According to Reuters, Volkswagen will start buying back those fraudulent vehicles around the middle of November.
Volkswagen's I.D. arrives in 2020 with up to 370 mile range
VW has kicked off the Paris Motor Show with some (much needed) flair, unveiling the fully electric I.D.. The I.D. looks like something straight out of Back To The Future II, and has a suitably futuristic release date too: 2020. Volkswagen claims the 125 kW motor in the I.D. will have a huge range, landing somewhere between 250 and a pretty impressive (if true) 370 miles. You might have to wait a few years to get one, and be prepared to pay "Golf" money for it, but VW says the I.D. is actually the "ambassador" for a whole new electric line-up. For now, we took a look at the concept model right here in 2016 in Paris.
Volkswagen investors sue for another $9 billion in damages
It's been exactly one year since news of Volkswagen's emissions testing scandal broke wide, and the lawsuits keep on coming. Already on the hook for $14.7 billion in one of the largest class-action settlements in US history, another 1,400 of VW's investors are now suing the company for grand total of $9.1 billion (8.2 billion euros) in damages.
BMW and VW finish installing EV chargers along US coastlines
If you regularly drive some of the busiest highways in the US, you now have a stronger incentive to pick up an electric car. BMW, Volkswagen and ChargePoint have finished installing 95 promised EV charging stations along key routes on the US' eastern and western coastlines. The chargers, typically placed about 50 miles apart, will help you travel from Boston to Washington, DC (mostly along Interstate 95) or Portland, Oregon to San Diego (on Highway 101 and Interstate 5) without worrying about your battery.
Six folding electric bikes that fit practically anywhere
By Cat DiStasio Imagine being able to carry a clean energy vehicle with you, just about wherever you go. Enter the folding electric bike. Battery-powered bicycles are on the rise as two-wheeled commuting gains popularity in places with heavy traffic and limited parking. Having the ability to fold up an e-bike and toss it in your trunk -- or even in a backpack -- expands your range of transportation options. There are a few big-name car companies like Ford and Volkswagen getting in on the action, while other innovations come from tech startups and university research groups. They all have one thing in common, though: They take a 300-year-old design for a two-wheeled vehicle and make it address modern transportation issues.
Thanks to VW, BMW's 2017 diesels will be delayed
BMW confirmed Monday that US sales for its model-year 2017 diesel vehicles will be delayed because US regulators are taking longer than expected to certify the models. Bimmer, which sells diesel-powered 3-Series, 5-Series, X3, and X5 vehicles in the US, didn't give a timetable of when such domestic sales would start. Autoguide had previously reported of the potential delay for sales of US diesels, which account for about six percent of BMW's total sales in the US.
Regulators reject plan to fix 85,000 diesel Volkswagens
Although Volkswagen has those ambitious plans to launch 30 new electric vehicles in the next 10 years, the German automaker is still on the hook for that $14.7 billion class-action settlement related to the diesel emissions scandal. While VW has already agreed to buy back nearly half a million 2.0L diesel engine vehicles, the California Air Resources Board rejected the company's plan to fix another 85,000 3.0L diesel VWs, Audis and Porsches that are still on the road.
