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VW's diesel problems could end in criminal prosecution

It's not just auto industry insiders who are re-evaluating their thoughts on VW's diesel line-up following last week's bombshell accusation that the German automaker willfully installed software in almost a half-million diesel vehicles sold in the US to get around government emissions tests. Things are moving fast in what is already being called "dieselgate," but here are some of the big news items that we've learned since VW CEO Martin Winterkorn issued an apology yesterday. The biggest news is that both the US and German governments are looking into criminal prosecutions. Here, the US Justice Department has started a criminal investigation and Germany said that its Federal Motor Transport Authority will get involved. When the full history about all of this is written, two key players will be John German and Peter Mock from the International Council on Clean Transportation. They were the researchers responsible for actually calculating the emissions, and thus discovered that what was coming out of the tailpipe and what VW was telling the EPA did not match up. Once the EPA understood what was going on, it forced VW to either explain things all of its 2016 models would not receive certification. Sales of all VW diesels in the US have indeed been stopped, and the EPA says it will take a closer look at all light-duty diesel vehicles in the US. The re-engineered 2016 Volkswagen Passat is being launched in New York today. Two senior Volkswagen executives who were supposed to attend the event - Heinz-Jakob Neusser, VW's board member in charge of technical development and Herbert Diess, chairman of the VW brand's management board - have cancelled. An Audi vehicle is among the VW Group's vehicles affected by this issue, the A3 TDI. Given that VW has admitted in some fashion to installing the "defeat device" to get around the emissions tests, Audi's slogan "Truth In Engineering" now sounds less than perfect. Yes, there is already talk of class-action lawsuits. Nothing official is out yet, but expect to hear more about this in the near future.

Volkswagen CrossBlue previews a three-row future, diesel-hybrid power [w/video]

Volkswagen looks to be getting ready to jump into the large three-row crossover game. The automaker has officially pulled back the curtain on the CrossBlue Concept at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.
Designers and engineers penned the machine specifically for the Canadian and US markets, and with a plug-in diesel electric hybrid drivetrain, the hulking five-door, at least in concept form, should offer substantially better efficiency than anything else on the market. The drivetrain pairs a 2.0-liter turbo diesel four-cylinder engine with two electric motors for a combined output of 305 horsepower and a ludicrous 516 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed dual-clutch gearbox handles shifting detail, while one electric motor spins the front wheels. The second motor spins the back axle independently, make the CrossBlue a through-the-road hybrid.
As a result, the crossover can pop to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds. Perhaps more impressively, the CrossBlue can whir around on all-electric propulsion for up to 14 miles at up to 75 mph. Once the diesel four kicks in, the drivetrain can yield up to 39 mpg, though Volkswagen says the hardware can hit 89 MPGe on a full charge thanks to a 9.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Check out the full press release below for more information.

Recharge Wrap-up: Tesla details factory expansion; Ford and SunPower raise money for Sierra Club

Tesla has revealed the details of the upgrade of its Fremont, CA factory. One major change is the addition of a dedicated production space for the dual-motor P85D version of the Model S. Robots will be doing the battery installation on the Model S to save some time, and new export docks allow Tesla to get the cars out the door and on the way to their new owners more quickly. The new robots that move the cars around the factory have been named after X-Men characters, which makes our inner geeks smile. Check out the factory upgrade in the time-lapse video below and read more at Teslarati or at the Tesla Motors Blog. A program in Beijing for privileged registrations for EVs hasn't had much success. Of the 1,424 lottery winners, only about 30 percent went on to register an electric car despite a two-month extension of the deadline to do so. Buyers are likely discouraged by the lack of charging infrastructure, which the city hopes to ameliorate with the addition of 1,000 new charging stations by the end of the year, and by requiring new and renovated developments to set aside parking specifically for EV charging. Read more at Green Car Reports. The UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies suggests that laws designed to protect dealers and consumers are stymieing the adoption of EVs. Laws like the ones certain states have in place that block or otherwise restrict Tesla's direct-to-consumer business model are not helpful for companies that want to introduce new products to the market. They prevent companies from passing on savings to customers for whom they would likely make the difference in a purchasing decision. One possible solution would be to allow exemptions to certain selling restrictions for a certain number of vehicles sold. "This could give automakers the degree of control needed to work out kinks with early customers, develop scalable processes for supporting PEVs, and ensure that effective dealer performance standards are in place before handing the reins over to wholly independent retailers," according to UC Davis ITS. Read more at the UC Davis website. Volkswagen says its environmental program, called "Think Blue. Factory," is meeting the automaker's own sustainability targets. The main purpose of the program is to move toward eco-friendlier carmaking at each of its plants worldwide.