U.S. environmental regulators are not letting a crisis go to waste, seeking to make Volkswagen do more than fix the diesel engines that cheated on emissions tests.
According to a report in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, the Environmental Protection Agency wants Volkswagen to subsidize the electric-car industry to atone for the diesel-engine cheating.
According to the report Sunday, the EPA wants VW, the world’s largest automaker by some measures, to produce electric cars at its U.S. manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. It also is using settlement talks with the German giant, to get help in building a network of charging stations throughout the U.S. — the main practical problem with electric cars, given their short range.
The German report did not specify its sources, according to multiple accounts in the English-language press.
“Talks with the EPA are ongoing and we are not commenting on the contents and state of the negotiations,” a spokesman for Volkswagen said. EPA refused to comment to Welt am Sonntag.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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