We currently find ourselves in an automotive age which places a major focus on how we drive, what we drive, and how that impacts the environment. Green car technology optimally provides the opportunity for a higher level of fuel efficiency married together with a lower level of negative emissions. Sounds like a win/win situation for both the car manufacturer and the consumer buying the vehicle. Of course, it is a win/win all the way around for the environment in which we live in, as well.
However, with any new technology (along with a company’s possible over-interest in its bottom line) there’s always room for inappropriate activities and even downright scandal. While we can all agree that technology should be pointed toward the good of the whole, this is not always the case.
You may or may not have become aware of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, but a lot has happened in a short period of time. While you might expect the use of technology for purposes not-so-intended for good to be found in some sort of sci-fi movie, unfortunately, it is apparent in our modern-day society.
 
What is the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal?
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made a discovery. That discovery was how certain Volkswagen vehicles manufactured from 2009 to date were using a device that would bypass emissions standards, giving the appearance of meeting those standards and laws when, in fact, they did not. These laws were put into place in order to protect the environment from damaging vehicle emissions; however, this technology was able to bypass those laws.
Computer systems within a vehicle are designed to make certain the vehicle is performing optimally. Maximizing performance while minimizing dangerous emissions benefits both the consumer and the environment. Keeping our vehicle performing on optimal levels while taking into consideration the impact such technology has on the environment is the reason behind emissions testing.
However, and unfortunately so, technology was created in order to detect when a vehicle was undergoing an emissions test in order for the vehicle to pass that same test. Once you were out and about on the road again, the carefully created technology would shut off, burn less fuel, but putting out 40 times more pollution into the environment.
 
Some of the Aftermath
Not only was the discovery an astonishing one at first, there is the aftermath to deal with now as well. The Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen resigned in the middle of the scandal. Don’t be surprised when several more executives are forced to leave the company.
What about the consumers? It remains to be seen, but some of the possibilities are that the computer technology, in the form of a recall, will need to be adjusted causing less fuel efficiency than the consumer had anticipated when purchasing the vehicle, as well as a nuisance and inconvenience. It also remains to be seen if consumers will be compensated for purchasing vehicles under the guise of being fuel efficient and environmentally sound.
In addition, the EPA may be facing a huge undertaking consisting of road testing vehicles on the road for infractions like this one, regarding emissions requirements. There is even more work to be done for Volkswagen in light of the discovery, and that is in doing a clean sweep of the company to uncover responsible parties, but also in the form of winning back the graces of the consumers who have been customers for decades from one generation to the next.
More information about the Volkswagen Emissions scandal:
City of Houston sues Volkswagen
Volkswagen Scandal in 2 Minutes