VW diesel settlement and charge America

[Chickenlittle]

So I admit confusion over why the government punishes VW by making them spend 2 bill dollars to create American charging network. You penalize a company by making them invest in their own infrastructure? It would be equivalent of punishing tesla by making them build a new factory. They did not do any research (other than copying tesla’s Supercharger map) into their charger locations. Their proposed map includes all the tesla routes. Agreeing to set up this network does not mean they will support it or maintain it. Would seem to be counter intuitive that they wouldn’t support it but what if their planned cars don’t pan out or don’t sell enough to justify it.

 

[zmarty]

If I understand correctly, the network will be available to non-VW cars. So definitely not as forcing Tesla to build another factory. This helps VW competition directly. Especially if said competition sells more EVs than VW in the next few years.

That being said, I am quite skeptical about this network. I wonder how they will work around the rules and screw everybody. This is VW we are talking about ...

 

[Saghost]

I can't tell you how much research they did, but they are allegedly spending a bunch of the settlement money on researching the right places to put stations.

As mentioned above, they are required to use industry standard connections and allow all cars to charge for the same price. What I've read was they're putting in mostly CCS, with one or two CHAdeMO at each location.

It's not a perfect answer, but the lack of reliable, available, and cost-effective DCFC is certainly one of the main barriers to EV adoption for non Tesla cars. Did you have another suggestion for where the settlement money should go?

 

[McRat]

Most the money will go to politicians and their friends in the long run.

They are actually going to make Sacramento into a "City Of The Future!" with some of it.

No amount of lipstick in the world is going to get that pig on the SI Swimwear Edition.

 

[Chickenlittle]

I can't tell you how much research they did, but they are allegedly spending a bunch of the settlement money on researching the right places to put stations.

As mentioned above, they are required to use industry standard connections and allow all cars to charge for the same price. What I've read was they're putting in mostly CCS, with one or two CHAdeMO at each location.

It's not a perfect answer, but the lack of reliable, available, and cost-effective DCFC is certainly one of the main barriers to EV adoption for non Tesla cars. Did you have another suggestion for where the settlement money should go?

Absolutely can give better use of the settlement funds. Could be used to help people who have been harmed by their breaking the law. Perhaps it should have gone into healthcare since major damage to people in that area. Fines do not usually get collected to help make people whole but I cannot remember any fines collected to make the offender better off. Speeding tickets don’t go to speeders for example. Perhaps the funds could have gone into better monitoring of VW environmental impact since the company obviously doesn’t care about it.

The other issue is that I don’t believe there is any requirement to maintain these chargers. I am also concerned about the legal liability (or lack of it). If you plug your tesla into one and car damaged who is responsible for the repair. Is the obligation on VW to confirm their chargers work on all electric cars or on each automaker to make their cars compatible at the charge rates they provide?

Will the rates they charge for the service be geared to cover the cost of installing them, if so it really wasn’t a fine.

 

[adaptabl]

If I understand correctly, the network will be available to non-VW cars. So definitely not as forcing Tesla to build another factory. This helps VW competition directly. Especially if said competition sells more EVs than VW in the next few years.

That being said, I am quite skeptical about this network. I wonder how they will work around the rules and screw everybody. This is VW we are talking about ...

Non VW cars will be able to charge at a very high cost. This is how VW will get their money back.

 

[adaptabl]

So I admit confusion over why the government punishes VW by making them spend 2 bill dollars to create American charging network. You penalize a company by making them invest in their own infrastructure? It would be equivalent of punishing tesla by making them build a new factory. They did not do any research (other than copying tesla’s Supercharger map) into their charger locations. Their proposed map includes all the tesla routes. Agreeing to set up this network does not mean they will support it or maintain it. Would seem to be counter intuitive that they wouldn’t support it but what if their planned cars don’t pan out or don’t sell enough to justify it.

I see nothing wrong with this policy. It helps VW in the end as it should.

 

[CSFTN]

Just in case anyone is interested: EA charging station under construction in Memphis TN. It is in a much better location (IMO) then Tesla's, it is about 100 yards north of I-40 on the Germantown Parkway exit. Looks to me like there will be 12 connectors; seems to be a mix of J1772/CCS/Chademo. Not done yet. The switching and converting equipment look to be a near clone of Tesla's (from 20 feet away).

 

[Brando]

US prosecutors charge ex-VW boss in Dieselgate scandal | DW | 04.05.2018

DW NEWS
US prosecutors charge ex-VW boss in Dieselgate scandal
US Justice Department has indicted former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn for his part in the company's diesel emissions cheating. Prosecutors say he conspired to mislead regulators and violate the US Clean Air Act.