Federal officials said on Wednesday that General Motors will forfeit around $146 million for underestimating the pollutants created by its cars.
After it was discovered that 5.9 million cars released more pollutants than had been declared, the American automaker was punished, an official from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told AFP.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that the cars in question, which have model years ranging from 2012 to 2018, had carbon dioxide emissions in tests that were, on average, more than 10% higher than what GM had said.
Furthermore, the EPA said that GM has consented to write off greenhouse gas credits worth hundreds of millions of dollars, which is equivalent to almost 50 million tons of CO2.
On Wednesday, GM’s stock dropped 0.51 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.A comparable $128 million fine was paid by General Motors to the NHTSA last year for pick-up vehicles that were marketed several years earlier but did not meet fuel efficiency regulations.
The Biden administration released stricter car pollution regulations for domestically manufactured vehicles in March.
The revised guidelines aim to encourage automakers to shift their focus to developing more electric vehicles by gradually reducing the permissible emissions.
