Automakers rebuff EPA mpg rollbacks, cut side deal with California

TrafficSome of the largest automakers in the U.S. have banded together with California—to set an example for the EPA and its long-stalled emissions and fuel economy revamp. The agreement between Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW's U.S. division would raise fuel-economy standards by about 3.7 percent a year through 2026 to a final target of about 50...

Report: EPA delays proposed fuel economy plan until September—or later

Southern California traffic - by flickr user David R. BlumeThe EPA's plans to freeze fuel economy and emissions standards have been put on hold until at least Labor Day, sources familiar with the plans told Bloomberg earlier this week. Last August, the EPA released its long-anticipated proposal to unwind the steadily rising fuel-economy standards put in place in 2012 under President Obama, in part to...

2020 Hyundai Sonata will emit less with new valve-duration tech

2020 Hyundai SonataHyundai last week announced that it has developed what it claims is the world’s first mass-production continuously variable valve duration (CVVD) technology. The company asserted the new valve tech, headed into versions of the 2020 Hyundai Sonata, will produce significant improvements in emissions, fuel efficiency, and performance. The...

Volkswagen talks through Europe’s tough new emissions tests

Portable Emissions Measurement Systems (PEMS) on a Peugeot 308From the U.S., we most often encounter European WLTP standards in the context of sizing up plug-in driving range for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids that haven’t yet been rated by the EPA. The Worldwide Harmonised Light-Vehicle Test Procedure, is however taking form as the most comprehensive emissions program in the world, replacing...

In spite of tougher standards, European cars get dirtier

English traffic, from European Environment Agency reportEuropean automakers need to sell many more electric cars, but their customers aren't buying. Instead, they're buying more gas powered SUVs that emit more pollution than the cars they drove before. The ramifications for automakers could be dire if they can't sell more electric cars by next year. The European Union is scheduled to introduce the...

Architect of clean-air rollbacks resigns at EPA

Bill Wehrum, EPA Office of Air and Radiation head (CREDIT: Wikimedia Commons)EPA Office of Air and Radiation Administrator Bill Wehrum, an attorney who formerly represented power companies in their effort to roll back clean-air regulations, has resigned. The biggest air-quality issues that the Office of Air and Radiation oversees are tailpipe emissions from cars, and emissions from power plants that increasingly provide...

As EPA heads toward emissions rollback, Americans are driving more

Southern California traffic - by flickr user David R. BlumePolicymakers have long pointed to two straightforward paths for cutting carbon emissions: cleaning up the vehicle fleet itself, by making it more efficient (and electrified), and reducing the total number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). While the new-vehicle front is affecting serious progress—likely soon slowed by pending changes to...

Hyundai system purifies cabin air, raises awareness about pollution levels

Hyundai Smart Air Purification systemAs virtuous as one might be in choosing a vehicle that doesn’t produce tailpipe emissions, there’s a hazy reality to traveling by car: That you’re stuck breathing emissions from other gasoline or diesel vehicles—especially fine particulate emissions, which are some of the most concerning for health and tend to linger within...

Porsche fined $600 million in Germany over dirty diesels

2013 Porsche Cayenne DieselGerman regulators Tuesday hit Porsche with a $600 million (535 million euro) fine, for its role in selling cars powered by diesel engines designed by Audi that failed to comply with European emissions requirements. The cars, including the Cayenne and Panamera, used a 3.0-liter diesel V-6, exceeded European emissions standards for oxides of...

Justice Department investigating Ford emissions certifications

2017 Ford GT originally commissioned by John Cena - Image via Mecum AuctionsSome 2017 and newer Ford vehicles may have illegally polluted more than the company claimed during emissions certifications, and the company admitted Friday that criminal investigators were looking into the matter. The disclosure that the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating the Ford vehicles in February was made during the company's...

Report: EPA backs off plans to freeze fuel economy rules–slightly

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew WheelerEPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Thursday that the agency will delay and revise its plan to freeze emissions and fuel-economy rules, which was expected to be released early this month. The proposed rule, the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule, would freeze fuel-economy standards at 2020 levels through 2026 and reverse...

Fiat Chrysler to pay Tesla hundreds of millions for emissions credits

Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit in EuropeChrysler and Tesla aren't known for having much in common. Tesla builds nothing but pure electric cars, with no tailpipes. Chrysler was the first among American car companies to abandon its car lineup and focus on building big, heavy, thirsty SUVs and pickups. That has put Fiat Chrysler in a bind with emissions regulators around the world, where...

German prosecutors find collusion between automakers over diesel emissions

Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]The Mueller report may not show collusion between Russia and President Trump's campaign, but European anti-trust regulators say they have found collusion among German automakers to avoid cleaning up tailpipe emissions. On Friday, anti-trust regulators for the European Union charged BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen with colluding to block the...

Recalls of older cars for excess emissions may get more sunlight this year

2012 Jeep CompassEarlier this month, the EPA announced a voluntary recall by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles of nearly 900,000 older vehicles for excessive emissions. The announcement may have raised eyebrows and prompted a few wagging fingers, but it was hardly new; last year automakers recalled more than 5 million vehicles in 85 separate recalls. Now, officials from...

Dieselgate continued: SEC charges VW and its ex-boss with fraud

Volkswagen TDI diesel vehicles owned by Phil Grate and family, Seattle, WashingtonAmazingly, the diesel emissions case against Volkswagen in the U.S. is still gaining steam. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged VW and its former CEO Martin Winterkorn on Thursday with defrauding investors, according to wire-service reports. READ MORE: Gauging VW's progress on second diesel-settlement anniversary (Updated) The charges...

Not just diesel: FCA recalling 860K cars for emissions failure

2014 Dodge AvengerFiat Chrysler has recalled 862,520 gas-powered vehicles after on-road testing showed they might not meet emissions standards. The vehicles to be recalled, including the Dodge Avenger, Caliber, and Journey, and the Chrysler 200 (a twin of the Avenger) spanning from 2011 to 2016, met original EPA laboratory emissions tests, but failed in the kind of...

EPA says fuel economy rose in 2017, but it may be falling again

2019 Honda InsightAn EPA report released Wednesday shows that cars are getting better gas mileage in response to rising fuel economy standards. Yet a roaring economy and low gas prices have put Americans on a truck-buying spree, and the EPA is working to undermine those standards. According to its annual automotive trends report, the average new car reached a...