When the news of Volkswagen's emissions scandal first broke in September, it immediately became the worst crisis of the company's rich 78-year history and one of the most damaging that the auto industry has ever seen.
In addition to at least a year-long recall, which will cost VW a projected $6.5 billion — to bring 11 million faulty diesel vehicles to comply with emissions regulations — there's an MIT study that the automaker's emissions cheating will lead to 60 premature deaths in the United States alone.
That being said, the Environmental Protection Agency is taking serious steps to ensure that such an emissions scandal never repeats itself. To do that, the EPA confirmed with CNet on Monday that it's conducting on-road emissions tests for every new diesel vehicle in the United States.
"The agency has expanded its testing of pre-production, production, and customer-owned vehicles to screen for defeat devices, " an EPA representative wrote in an email to the technology site.
If you purchase a 2015 or 2016 model diesel, your vehicle will be subjected to such testing to make sure that its emissions meet standard regulations and don't exceed them the way Volkswagen knowingly did.
On Sunday, the New York Times reported that it will take several weeks for every VW diesel to undergo on-road testing.
Specifically, the EPA will be looking to catch cheating and manipulation programs, used by VW that are also being utilized by other manufacturers.
"We are very anxious to find out if there are any other programs out there," Christopher Grundler, director of the office of transportation and air quality at the EPA, told the Times.
Seeing all the aggravation that VW is going through, it would be deplorable if another automaker is still trying to get one up on the EPA and the public at this point.
