MCViewPoint

https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2018/10/04/well-now-we-know/

By Eric

…But back to the point of all this – the reason for the hysterical, exaggerated abuse leveled at VW out of all proportion to any tangible harm caused by their “cheating” – and the brutal effect of the “fix” applied to the “cheating” cars.

They were just too god-damned good for their own good. The latest escalation of “bins” and “tiers” was meant to make it impossible for diesels to be both compliant and fuel-efficient and affordable.

VW – to its credit – attempted to get around this vicious, evil business.

I test drove every TDI-powered car VW made, pre-“fix” – including the TDI-powered Jetta. It exceeded the EPA’s city/highway numbers, as people who own these cars will also tell you. I got better than 50 MPG on the highway out of them.

And you could buy one for about $22,000.

Well, you used to be able to.

VW doesn’t sell TDI-powered anything anymore – except for dealers unloading the backed-up inventory of “fixed” 2015 and 2016 cars, which have been “fixed” just as a steer is “fixed.”

There’s not much reason to buy one anymore – because these cars no longer deliver the huge mileage advantage vs. gas-powered cars that they used to deliver.

And that, dear reader, is the point of all of this.

To geld the resurgence of clean, efficient diesel-powered passenger cars – especially the affordable ones which VW uniquely specialized in.

These cars made hybrid and electric cars look bad.

Made them look stupid.

Excepting the virtue-signalers, who would choose to spend a couple thousand bucks more to buy a gas-electric hybrid that only had a slight mileage advantage? And who would spend $30,000-plus on an electric car with literally a third the range – that also required its owner to wait for hours while its battery recovered charge – when he could have been hours down the road in his diesel-powered alternative?

Now, perhaps, you see.

And if you do, it all begins to make sense.

Be seeing you