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Volkswagen's emissions deception brings more scrutiny to entire industry

Volkswagen's emissions deceptions have hurt the entire auto industry's credibility with federal regulators. Days after the world's largest automaker confessed to installing software that circumvents emissions standards on approximately a half-million diesel vehicles in the United States, a top federal safety official says the company's dishonesty will force government officials to view the entire auto industry with heightened skepticism. "Your first question has to be, 'How extensive is it through the whole industry?' You don't know if it's a unique case or if other people are doing it," said Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "The unfortunate part is you're not going to worry about one person. It's extended to the entire industry. If they did it, someone else could do it." "They tell you one thing, you question it." - Mark Rosekind Rosekind's agency doesn't bear responsibility in investigating the emissions cheating. That falls to the Environmental Protection Agency, which served Volkswagen with a Notice of Violation on Friday that alleged the company's diesel vehicle equipped with 2.0-liter engines contained a defeat device that allowed the cars to detect when emissions testing was taking place. In normal driving situations, the cars spewed pollution at as much as 40 times allowable thresholds. But because of the emissions cheating, NHTSA wonders if the German automaker has been cutting corners on safety standards or disingenuous on safety-related discussions. Speaking at an auto-industry event in Novi, MI, on Tuesday, Rosekind indicated no information can now be taken at face value. He used the phrase "Question assumptions" several times in discussing the case. "Of course, question assumptions means, 'Is there some other safety element there that we're now going to have to investigate?" he said. As it did in the General Motors ignition-switch probe, the Department of Justice has initiated an investigation of Volkswagen and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced it will hold hearings on the cheating. For NHTSA, criminal cases complicate matters. The agency core function is to regulate safety, not conduct criminal investigations. But in the early going, their investigators may be the first ones to spot wrongdoing.

Recharge Wrap-up: First VW e-Golf in US up for auction, meet Project Ain't Fuelin'

Volkswagen is auctioning the first e-Golf in the US to raise money for Global Green USA. The auction is live now, and bidding goes until 3:30 pm Eastern on October 29. Global Green USA will use the proceeds to help find solutions to climate change, and the winner will get to enjoy emissions-free driving before the car e-Golf goes on sale in November. If you don't live in or near California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington DC, you might want to sit this one out, as the car will only be available to pick up at dealers in those initial launch states. Go bid now, or learn more in the press release below. Berlin, Germany will use Solaris electric buses for a complete bus line in 2015. The downtown line will run 3.8 miles between Zoologischer Garten Station and Sudkreuz. The transport operator Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) will use four of the Solaris e-buses for the test, each about 39 feet long. The buses use a 200-kilowatt inductive charging system at the ends of the line to recharge in just a few minutes. The government-funded test runs through 2016, but BVG pans to use the electric buses beyond that timeline. Read more at Green Car Congress. The American Petroleum Institute (API) is worried that the Obama administration will use ethanol requirements to influence a Senate race in Iowa. In the midst of a close race against Republican Joni Ernst, Representative Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate, is urging Obama to reject a cut in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The November election approaches, meanwhile the EPA continues to delay issuing an ethanol requirement for the year, with or without its proposed 16-percent reduction. Rejecting the cut could help get farmers and ethanol producers on the side of Braley. "We are very concerned that the signals we are seeing from the administration is that the political calculations are outweighing sound fuels policy," says API's Bob Greco. Read more at Businessweek. Project Ain't Fuelin' aims to fix up old cars to return them to original fuel economy, and then surpass it. Episode 3 of Valvoline's Under The Hood video series features Daniel Gray of MPGomatic, who is doing just that to a 1999 Honda Civic HX Coupe. He aims to get 50 mpg out of the old Civic by tuning it up, tinkering with the aerodynamics, switching to more efficient tires and other modifications.

UAW angered over VW workers getting right to defend anti-union vote

The United Auto Workers have called a decision by the National Labor Relations Board allowing anti-UAW employees at the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga the right to defend voting down unionization at the plant "an outrage."
You'll recall that the union was defeated by a vote of 712 to 626 in a contentious February election. The UAW claims the outcome was unfairly swayed by pro-business, anti-union forces, including Senator Bob Corker and political advocate Grover Norquist.
This new decision by the NLRB essentially gives workers backed by the anti-UAW National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and Southern Momentum a formal voice in the impending hearing on the UAW's appeal of the vote.