Volkswagen accused of cheating emissions tests on nearly 500,000 cars

Automakers are under intense pressure to meet emissions regulations put in place by the world's governments. Volkswagen allegedly had a slightly different solution.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused Volkswagen of using software designed to sidestep emissions regulations in nearly 500,000 vehicles.

In total, 482,000 vehicles are being implicated, including the 2009-2015 Volkswagen Golf, Beetle, Jetta and Beetle, the 2014-2015 Volkswagen Passat and the 2009-2015 Audi A3. The cars were possibly installed with a "defeat device," a piece of software designed to detect when the car is undergoing emissions testing and turn on all of the car's emissions control systems then. In normal driving, the systems would turn off, causing 40 times larger nitrogen oxide emissions, according to the E.P.A. Read more...