Tesla CEO Musk, Others Urge California to Push VW Toward Electric Cars
December 17 2015 - 3:01PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Spector
Tesla Motors Chief Executive Elon Musk and more than three dozen
others are urging California regulators to push Volkswagen AG
toward more environmentally friendly vehicles after the German auto
giant recently used software to cheat on emissions tests with
diesel-powered cars.
California regulators should direct Volkswagen to "accelerate
greatly its rollout of zero-emission vehicles," Mr. Musk and others
wrote in a letter Thursday to Mary Nichols, head of the California
Air Resources Board. Unlike vehicles powered by gas and diesel
engines, electric vehicles and other technologies can result in few
or no emissions of pollutants.
Volkswagen in October said a new Phaeton vehicle would be
electric and that the company would focus on plug-in hybrids and
high-volume electric vehicles with a range exceeding 186 miles.
Representatives for Volkswagen and Tesla had no immediate
comment on the letter. A CARB spokesman said, "Our focus has and
will continue to be cleaning the air and advancing the cleanest
vehicle and fuel technologies."
In addition to Mr. Musk, the letter to California regulators was
signed by Internet entrepreneur and former eBay Inc. executive Jeff
Skoll and Michael Burne, executive director of the Sierra Club.
The letter was spearheaded by Tesla investor Ion Yadigaroglu,
managing principal at Capricorn Investment Group, said Michael
Shank, director of media strategy at Climate Nexus, an
environment-focused communications firm. Capricorn manages $4
billion with a focus on sustainable investments for Mr. Skoll, the
Skoll foundation and others, according to its website.
The letter echoes arguments Mr. Yadigaroglu made earlier this
year, suggesting Volkswagen should be forced to make electric
vehicles as punishment for cheating on U.S. emissions tests.
Volkswagen has admitted installing illegal software on nearly
500,000 diesel-powered cars sold in the U.S. since 2008 that
allowed them to pollute more on the road than during government
emissions tests.
The letter suggests letting Volkswagen off the hook for fixing
affected diesel cars already on the road in California, claiming
they represent an insignificant portion of total vehicle emissions
in the state. Mr. Musk and others want the rollout of
zero-emissions vehicles instead, with a goal of over the next five
years achieving a 10-for-1 greater reduction in pollutant emissions
compared with those associated with the diesel cheating, according
to the letter.
Volkswagen should also invest in new factories and research and
development in lieu of paying fines that might ultimately stem from
its emissions cheating, the letter said.
Volkswagen separately on Thursday said it had appointed outside
lawyer Kenneth Feinberg to administer an independent claims
resolution program to address vehicles with two-liter and
three-liter diesel engines affected by its emissions crisis.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 17, 2015 14:46 ET (19:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024