I was in France a few years back, and had a Volkswagen CC TDI sedan with a 2.4L turbo-diesel. Fully packed with 4 adults and luggage, we averaged 42 MPG doing 75 MPH+ driving it around the country for a week or so.
I looked for the same car when we got back, and learned that engine was not available in the US. I pressed for an explanation, and learned that it didn’t meet EPA emission requirements. I learned also that the EPA rules looked at the amount of pollutants emitted per-gallon of fuel burnt, REGARDLESS of how many miles-per-gallon achieved.
So, for example, a car that achieved 20 MPG, and emitted X in pollutants burning 1 gallon over 20 miles would be approved by the EPA, while a car that achieved 80 MPG, and generates 2X pollutants per gallon, but only .5X in pollutants over the same 20 miles, would not be approved.
Got that? A car that generates 1/2 the pollutants in a real-world trip could be disapproved, while a lower MPG car could be approved.
I’m sure this is shocking to exactly no one here on FR - just another of the asinine EPA rules that don’t pass the logic test.
That’s not to excuse the behavior of VW here. But you have to admit it was pretty clever what they did.
Your problem is that you expect goverment edicts/mandates to also make sense.