Volkswagen emissions scandal

Volkswagen sold "clean diesel" cars with software that could tell when the vehicle was being tested and make the emissions controls behave for the exam.

In 2015, the EPA said Volkswagen had installed illegal defeat devices in model-year 2009-2015 diesel cars. On the road, the cars could emit up to 40 times the legal limit of nitrogen oxides.

Volkswagen pleaded guilty to three felony counts and paid billions in penalties; the Justice Department also indicted six executives and employees. One fix for affected diesels involved a software update plus a little airflow part in the intake. All that was needed for the fix was new code and a plastic straightener.