Car and Driver: EPA to VW: Build EVs in U.S. as Penance for Diesel Cheating

-It looks like cash payments aren’t the only way Volkswagen will try to make up for installing emissions-cheating software on its diesel vehicles. The German automaker may also end up building electric cars in the U.S., at the behest of the federal government.

Based on an article in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Automotive News reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked Volkswagen to produce electric vehicles at its Tennessee factory, and help build a network of electric-car charging stations, as a way of making up for the emissions-cheating diesel vehicles the automaker sold in the U.S. Volkswagen has been showing a number of all-electric concepts in the months since the diesel emissions scandal broke, including the Budd-E microbus shown above.

Volkswagen already sells a hybrid and a limited number of battery-electric vehicles in some U.S. regions, so it’s not clear whether the EPA is asking the company to build new models or simply expand production of those existing vehicles at its plant in Tennessee.

• -
• U.S. Seeks up to $48 Billion in Fines for VW Emissions Cheating-
• VW Offering “Goodwill” Prepaid Visa Cards to TDI Diesel Owners-
• Everything You Need to Know About the VW Diesel Emissions Cheating Scandal-

Now more than five months into the scandal, Volkswagen and the EPA still can’t come to an agreement on how to fix the 600,000 vehicles still affected by the scandal in the U.S. When asked for comment by Automotive News, Volkswagen’s spokesperson would only say, “talks with the EPA are ongoing and we are not commenting on the contents and state of the negotiations.”

This story originally appeared on Road & Track.

Read Full Article