June 24, 2016 — Volkswagen has agreed to pay TDI diesel owners up to $7,000 each as part of a $10 billion settlement for rigging cars to cheat on emissions tests.
In addition to fixing or buying back the cars, VW will provide owners with cash payments worth between $1,000 and $7,000 depending on the age of the car and other factors, according to Bloomberg.
VW will also fund a program to offset air pollution to remediate damage done to the environment and boost zero-emissions vehicles.
VW sold about 482,000 TDI “Clean Diesel” vehicles that emit up to 40-times the legal limit of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx). The cars were rigged with software that could sense when the car was being tested and temporarily reduce emissions to pass the test.
VW is not expected to be able to repair all of the vehicles, and the company’s proposed repairs have not been approved by the EPA and other air-pollution regulators. Instead, VW will buy the cars for what they were worth before the scandal broke in September 2015.
The $10 billion deal is expected to include money for the buy-back program, compensation for owners, a class action lawsuit settlement, and paying fines for breaking clean-air laws.
Reuters reports that the settlement does not address about 80,000 larger 3.0 liter Audi, Porsche and VW vehicles that emitted less pollution than 2.0 liter vehicles.