You would have to be living under a rock to have not heard of the very real crisis going on in the automotive industry. It started last week when news broke that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California claimed that Volkswagen Auto Group (VWAG) had been cheating emissions testing and was investigating a potential recall for nearly 500,000 units.
That's kind of a big deal.
Since then we've heard about a potential $18 billion dollar fine and now Martin Winterkorn is out of a gig. There is definitely going to be some irreparable damage to the diesel vehicle market, we're just not sure how severe at this point. The next question, at least in the Agents' minds, is "What's the next shoe to drop?"
For us, it's been very interesting to see the rising interest in electric vehicles but limited purchases; however, this Dieselgate may give the movement the push it's been looking for. EV sales have been pretty tepid but interest is super high in Tesla — now only if it could deliver a product the average working person could afford.
So, what IS next? Will electric vehicle manufacturer's be criticized for their rather inaccurate battery range claims? Or, is this whole Dieselgate fiasco more so about the fact VWAG admitted to cheating?
It's always been a bit of a wonky "art," but it seems that EVs get a pass on unreliable range information due to the variability of battery range due to the following:
- Driving style
- Weather — temperature
- Feature usage — e.g., running the A/C will impact range
What say you, Spies?