Senior House Republicans are raising suspicion about a recent legal settlement with auto giant Volkswagen that they worry could give the German automaker an unfair advantage and turn it into an electric vehicle monopoly.
“VW may be able to obtain substantial competitive benefits, if not a monopoly on electric vehicle infrastructure, under the required investments,” according to a letter from House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., to the Environmental Protection Agency. “This is a curious outcome for the settlement of a cheating scandal.”
The EPA and state regulators settled a $16.5 billion lawsuit with VW last month over its use of software in its line of diesel cars to intentionally thwart vehicle emission requirements. Part of the settlement included a massive investment in electric cars in the U.S., which is the focus of the lawmakers’ concern.
The lawmakers want the EPA to disclose how much excess pollution the VW diesel cars emitted since 2009 and how that pertains to the $2.7 billion that VW agreed to invest under the legal settlement to offset the excess emissions from its diesel cars. The carmaker also agreed to spend $2 billion over the next decade on electric cars, which the lawmakers also want explained in context of the larger investment.
The automaker has announced that electric cars will become a business priority, while the German government is phasing in a total ban on gasoline-powered vehicles.
Reuters reported that U.S. companies that sell electric vehicle-charging equipment have raised concerns about the possible adverse impacts of VW’s spending in the U.S.
The EPA declined to discuss how it might respond to the lawmakers’ questions, saying only that the letter has been received and it is reviewing it.
A VW spokeswoman also declined to comment on the letter, but did say that it will submit its plan to comply with the settlement over the next four months.
