SmartWay: EPA Updates Green Vehicle Guide
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 12. 4.05
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated its Green Vehicle Guide (which is actually a guide of all vehicles, and not just the greener ones) with new categories they call SmartWay and SmartWay Elite. "SmartWay is earned by those vehicles that score 6 or better on both the Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Scores and achieve a combined score of at least 13 when added together [...] SmartWay Elite is given to those vehicles that score 9 or better on both the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Scores." You can see a list of all the SmartWay rated vehicles here. Not surprisingly, at the top are the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrid. We're not quite sure where the EPA is going with this branding-wise, but at least it makes it a bit easier to find less polluting cars. Thanks to Ben McCarthy for the tip! ::EPA - SmartWay, ::EPA Green Vehicle Guide
Looking at that list, you'd think cars were the only vehicles available. Wonder why they left out the efficiency ratings for all the other kinds of vehicles, like motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, etc...
Why is the Honda Insight listed as getting as low as a 2 out of 10 on the air polution scale? I thought the insight was still more eco friendly than a prius.
That's a good point.
I wonder if the EPA rates other vehicles elsewhere, of if they just don't provide that information to the public.
Sam,
The Insight is more fuel efficient than the Prius (which is normal since it's a small aluminum two-seater and the Prius is a mid-size like the Camry), but fuel efficiency and emissions are not the same.
The california Insight is rated at 9/10, but I guess that the "regular" Insight - like most Honda pre-2006 hybrids - is rated ULEV or something like that.
Update: From Honda's website: "All that adds up to an incredible California Air Resources Board (CARB) emissions rating of ULEV (Ultra-Low-Emission Vehicle) for MT models and SULEV (Super-Ultra-Low-Emission Vehicle) for CVT models."
Most of these vehicles run on gasoline. Why run on gas when you can get 50 mpg and get better than ULEV emissions by running biodiesel in 4 cylinder TDI?
A TDI has far fewer parts than a hybrid, it runs on renewable fuel, and the life of the engine is much longer than it's petroline counterpart. One day CARB may post this information too to enhance consumer choice.