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Politicians and regulators in the European Union are finding many instances of automakers using loopholes to circumvent emissions standards. Although so far only Volkswagen has been found using software to cheat the emissions tests specified by regulators, other automakers including Jeep, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz are taking advantage of regulatory gray areas for diesel vehicles sold in the EU, according to a report from the New York Times.

Specifically, the Times noted that EU regulations allow car makers to kill the emissions control system on diesel vehicles if there's a risk that running the emissions control system could cause engine damage—“which in some cases is nearly all the time,” the paper wrote.

Cold weather is often cited as a reason to deactivate emissions control in the interests of extending the life of the engine (car companies in the US used such a justification against the accusations of environmentalists as early as the 70's). But a German study found a Jeep Cherokee sold by Fiat Chrysler in Europe turned off certain emissions controls when the car experienced temperatures as high as 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Recently, an independent investigation by a German environmental lobbying group, the magazine Der Spiegel, and a German TV program called Monitor found that Opel's Zafira was turning off emissions controls at high altitude and at speeds greater than 87 mph. Opel has denied that it's done anything illegal in designing its diesel cars.

We put Volvo's new XC90 T8 Hybrid to the test. Video shot and edited by Jennifer Hahn. (video link)

Volvo's XC90 SUV marks a new chapter for the Swedish automaker. It's the first vehicle to be built using Volvo's new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), a platform that's also used by the new S90 sedan and V90 station wagon. The XC90 is also destined to be Volvo's best-selling vehicle here in the US—by April of this year, the company had already found customers for almost 11,000 XC90s in one of the most competitive segments in the market.

The XC90 is a vehicle packed with clever technology. Much of this technology has to do with Volvo's core focus on safety of course—which now means lots of active semi-autonomous driver assists—but this SUV marks the debut of the company's new Sensus infotainment system, too. On top of all that, the T8 variety of this range-topping vehicle is a hybrid. After spending several hundred miles in both T6 and T8 versions of the XC90, it was easy to come away with an appreciation for Sweden's latest.

Ars' Mark Walton and Sam Machkovech discuss the awesome processing power of Scorpio. But what do all those specs mean for the gamer? Where does the Xbox One S fit in? And will existing Xbox owners upgrade? (video link)

LOS ANGELES—A few E3 press conferences have already come and gone in the past day and a half, but only one has announced a new game console so powerful that it will power 4K, 60 frames-per-second gaming. That honor goes to Microsoft and its smashing E3 conference on Monday, which ended with the reveal of the long-rumored Project Scorpio.

Between that "coming in 2017" hardware unveil, the formal introduction of the "slim" Xbox One S, and a giant slew of new games, Microsoft came out swinging in a pretty big way—so Ars' Sam Machkovech and Mark Walton came together to chat about the company's hardware and software unveils in two separate videos. We still have impressions about PlayStation's press conference coming later, so it remains to be seen if Microsoft will be declared the ultimate "winner" today, but at the very least, they were no slouches.