Filed under: Hybrid, Legislation and Policy
Stupid hybrid perk: no emissions test
Hybrids have lots of perks. Many states allow hybrids to use the HOV lane when a single person is driving, park at parking meters without paying and not get ticketed, etc. I support state and local government trying to encourage the use of clean cars. Except the state of Virgina which has a very stupid hybrid perk: Code of Virginia (§46.2-1178.B.1.) states hybrid vehicles that get over 50 MPG are "exempted from the vehicle emissions inspection requirement." One hybrid driver even complained in a letter to his local paper of the loss of the right. Now that the new EPA mpg ratings have pushed hybrids below 50 MPG, hybrids no longer qualify for this "perk."
I don't understand the logic of exempting hybrids from emissions tests at all. Can someone explain it to me, please? Does the electric engine in the hybrid vehicle give the gas engine in the same vehicle magical powers so it cannot possibly fail an emissions test? Or maybe it's okay if the hybrid's gas engine does pollute more because the electric engine balances everything out? Why stop at emissions test exemptions Virginia? Let hybrid cars break traffic laws and drive on sidewalks! The magical electric engine will stop accidents.
[Source: Potomac News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mia 12:08PM (9/17/2007)
This is a excemption I do not agree with. Problems can occur and cause excess emissions into the air this test helps to prevent this! Why would anyone feel not having this test is a good idea?
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/
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MikeB 12:09PM (9/17/2007)
Around Atlanta, a number of Toyota Prius' were failing the local emissions test. The reason? The engine reported 0 RPM while the vehicle was sitting idle in the testing station, but the test required 800-1500RPM.
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David 12:25PM (9/17/2007)
The emissions inspection in Virginia (for cars 1996 or newer) is just a OBD2 scan to make sure the emissions diagnostics are working properly and aren't showing any errors.
If there is a problem, the car will throw a Check Engine light anyway, and most people will have their mechanic check it out even if not required by law to do so.
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Karkus 12:38PM (9/17/2007)
If you do a 2 second google search, you'd figure out that exemptions from testing may be due to the fact that hybrids don't work with standard emissions tests, in part because they don't typically idle.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/04/16/prius-cant-pass-georgia-emissions-test/
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/755888-6vgJJV/webviewable/755888.pdf
Sure, a hybrid could fail an emissions test (but on the other hand, they tend to be cleaner to start with). But really, even if they do fail, they're way less likely to pollute as much as all those old stinky "collectors" cars that get exempt from these emissions tests. That the "big elephant in the room" that you seem to be ignoring. And what about all that super polluting offroad diesel equipment, with huge black clouds coming out? It would probably take thousands of malfunctioning hybrids to equal what one of those stinking machines puts out.
Also, did you consider that maybe by the time hybrids get old enough that they start having problems, they'll adjust the testing? But for now, you should focus on the the REAL problems, and that's NOT hybrids being exempt from emissions testing. But I guess hybrid bashing is more fun.
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Lascelles Linton 12:41PM (9/17/2007)
Okay, so they might not pass. CHANGE THE TEST! Not the law.
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Lascelles Linton 12:45PM (9/17/2007)
or at least craft a law that covers cars that don't idle. I think that includes more than hybrids. The VA law just covered 2 hybrids too. It's a perk!
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MarkR 2:07PM (9/17/2007)
for the change the test not the law crowd.
How do you test for emissions on something that will not run while at a stand still? Is the emissions tester supposed to run behind the hybrid at 30 mph with his magic tester up the tail pipe waiting for the gas engine to kick in? Please, you cant have it both ways. Its not fiscally responsible for all inspectors to have a dyno type set up that allows the car to run at high speeds while in one place. If you don't change the law it would require the manufacturer to change the design and then you wouldn't get the same efficiency improvement you have now because people would be constantly switch the gas engine on at lower speeds for better performance.
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detroit9000 2:38PM (9/17/2007)
Pssst. Let me tell you a secret: allowing this now can encourage buy-in. Then we can change the law back in 10 years.
Turn up the politically-saavy-ometer a few notches.
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Lascelles Linton 2:47PM (9/17/2007)
MarkR, I think most of the comments support the law :D Increase the cost of inspection. Even if it's JUST for hybrids. Someone mentioned diesel don't get checked as well. THAT needs to be changed too!
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/smogfaq.htm
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Chris M 3:20PM (9/17/2007)
When Toyota set out to design the Prius, their main goal was to reduce emissions, and it worked, the Prius has the lowest emissions of any petrol powered car. High milage was just a bonus. Furthermore, they designed it to maintain low emissions for 100,000 miles, so maybe they deserve an exemption, at least for several years.
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Bill 3:25PM (9/17/2007)
Diesels don't get checked.
$1500 for a 1980s-era Mercedes only requires an $8 "safety" vs. $45 "emissions" test annually here.
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rgseidl 3:59PM (9/17/2007)
I'm sure this is just a stopgap measure to allow hybrid owners to continue driving until VA fixes its emissions test procedure. This is not as easy as it sounds, because the software at all official test stations has to be updated.
EPA does not sign waivers for this kind of exemption except when the alternative is getting sued for harassment. Until recently, VA hybrid owners whose car failed the test for these purely procedural reasons had to waste time at their local DMV to straighten them out. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they still had to pay a fine regardless.
The exemption for legacy diesels probably has to do with the fact that their particulate-laden exhaust gas would foul the CO/HC/NOx emissions test equipment. With so few diesel LDVs on US roads, it would probably have been too expensive to install alternate equipment at the time. However, now that T2B5 diesels are on the way, this policy urgently needs to be reviewed. Thanks to wall-flow DPFs, additional equipment should only be needed to measure PM. Diesel owners may to drive further to reach a test station that has it.
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stevejust 6:37PM (9/17/2007)
Lascelles Linton: CA exempts hybrids from emissions testing as well. But it also excludes diesels (which can't be sold here in passenger vehicles, but can be brought in when people move to CA) and motorcycles.
Of those exemptions, which one(s) makes the most sense? Why not bash CA for exempting motorcycles, when everyone knows people tear out the emissions control technologies to make their bikes faster? And diesels? Ummm...
Regardless of the rationale for exemptions (most likely the COST of testing equipment), your posting is half-baked, not well researched, and, for lack of a better way of putting it, seems to be attacking hybrids for something that isn't their fault.
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David 8:53PM (9/17/2007)
More info on VA testing. The engine is not tested at idle. OBD2 cars get scanned, and non-OBD2 cars are run on a dyno at 15 and 25 mph.
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Dacu 10:40PM (9/17/2007)
Same thing for California also, but the exemption applies to all hybrids. And diesels as well.
[source: Ca DMV website)
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Matthew 3:50PM (9/18/2007)
Uh, you can get the prius to idle, which means no need to change any tests or get up in arms about cars not being able to idle. You idle the prius by pressing on the accelerator in park.
But, the prius being exempt is far from a problem - how about a law banning trucks and SUVs over the weight restrictions on residential roads? how about a law requiring cars to get better mileage? Lets worry about those things before we nitpick the benefits given to people willing to put their money on one of the greenest vehicles in the US.
-m.
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Lascelles Linton 4:09PM (9/18/2007)
Matthew, "how about a law banning trucks and SUVs over the weight restrictions on residential roads? how about a law requiring cars to get better mileage?"
Both already exist.
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Abigail 2:16AM (9/19/2007)
Regardless of the laws merit, SULEV tailpipe levels are near-zero in the scheme of tailpipe emisisons. All PZEV and AT-PZEV's are SULEV at the tailpipe. What you get with PZEV and better is evap controls and emissions durability warranty that warrants these trace emission levels out to 100,000 miles or better. A Honda Civic GX Naturl Gas Vehicle actual hydrocarbon and CO emissions are just 1/10 of the standard, so even if it doubles it is still below the spec! This is why Honda calls it the worlds cleanest. There is some merit to the laws position so putting emphasis on the Malfunction Indicator Light monitoring OBD could be more meaningful.
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