Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is giving his two cents on the big emission issues currently surrounding the auto industry, saying Friday that "random" emission tests on cars powered by fossil fuels should be put in place.
The call for random tests comes on the heel of the revelation of Volkswagen cheating on emission tests by equipping 500,000 diesel-powered cars with certain software so they could emit lower levels of pollution in official tests than on the roads. The scandal lead to Martin Winterkorn resigning as VW CEO in order to take responsibility for the situation.
"The obvious move is to pick cars at random and then test the emission in transit," Musk said during the unveiling of Tesla's first European plant, which is based in the Netherlands. "Clearly emission-testing needs to be more rigorous," he said after the scandal's discovery, according to AFP.
Musk added that the auto industry has "hit the limit" with diesel-powered vehicles and that VW may have been "under a lot of pressure to make improvements" in emission levels, leading the company to running into a "physical wall." Diesel powers most of Europe's cars right now, and automakers are defending it as a necessary tool for combating global warming.
The Environmental Protection Agency has started an investigation into the matter and plans to test cars under actual road conditions, while the U.S. and other countries have started their own probes, AFP reported. VW may also have to pay EPA fines amounting to $18 billion.
VW isn't the only automaker involved in emission issues, as a report was recently released claiming that BMW's diesel cars, such as the X3, were going over current air pollution limits in Europe.
Musk said that all automakers will eventually join the electric car craze, suggesting that VW should also go "full tilt for sustainable-powered vehicles."
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
