Here's how Elon Musk and friends would want to punish Volkswagen
In an open letter to the California Air Resources Board, Musk and 44 of his like-minded investor friends urged the state to release Volkswagen from the obligation to fix its cars and instead have the company reinvest the money in producing zero-emissions vehicles.
In September, Volkswagen admitted that its cars were effectively cheating during the emissions test because of their programming. Since then, the car manufacturer has pledged to fix the cars with the software error.
Musk and his cohorts don't believe that pledge will do much good.
"For a significant fraction of the non-compliant diesel cars already in the hands of drivers, there is no real solution. Drivers won't come in for a fix that compromises performance," they wrote.
Rather, the cohort laid out a five step plan for California to adopt:
Musk might not have to do much to persuade Volkswagen it's a great idea. The car maker is said to be ready to reveal plans for a new electric car, which will debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.