United States Air and Radiation EPA420-F-01-006
Environmental Protection February 2001
Agency
Office of Transportation and Air Quality
v>EPA Resource
Information
Green Vehicle Guide
www.epa.gov/greenvehicles
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Vehicle
Guide provides consumers with a simple tool to help them make
the link between vehicles and the environment during their vehicle
buying decisions. It provides one-stop shopping for consumers to
buy the cleanest, most efficient vehicle that meets their needs.
Background
Pollution from passenger cars and trucks (pickups, minivans, vans, and
sport utility vehicles) accounts for about one-third of all air pollution and
one-fifth of all carbon dioxide emissions, with some vehicles being much
cleaner and more efficient than others. Since vehicles differ in the
amount of emissions they produce, the choice car buyers make will affect
the quality of air we breathe and the amount of greenhouse gases we
create. So EPA has developed an online "Green Vehicle Guide" to help
consumers make more environmentally-informed choices when purchas-
ing a vehicle.
Overview of the Guide
EPA's new Web site provides information about the emission levels and
fuel economy of 2001 model year cars and light trucks. Emission levels
for the 2000 model year are also available. Based on those characteris-
tics, the guide then rates how "green" each vehicle is both overall and
within its class. Future model years will be added to the guide as the data
become available.
i Printed on Recycled Paper
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Emissions/ The guide includes an emission rating system which gives a 0-10 score,
Air with 10 being the best, based on how much air pollution each model
Pollution produces based on the tailpipe emission standards the vehicle was certi-
fied to meet. Vehicles with a higher score emit less smog-forming and
lung-irritating pollution than vehicles with a lower score. The score can
be used to compare the emissions of any vehicle to any other vehicle,
across classes and model years.
Fuel The Web site also includes information about fuel economy, the key
Economy/ indicator of a vehicle's contribution to greenhouse gases. The estimated
Global miles per gallon a vehicle will use in city and highway driving are
Warming provided. Vehicles with lower fuel economy create more carbon diox-
ide—the most important human-made greenhouse gas—than vehicles
with higher fuel economy. Every gallon of gasoline a vehicle burns puts
20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Green Another feature of the Green Vehicle Guide is a 1 to 5-star rating system,
Vehicle the Green Vehicle Class Rating, which rates vehicles within a class (e.g.,
Class midsize car, minivan, small pickup) according to the combination of
Rating emission and fuel economy performance. Vehicles with the highest rating
of 5 stars will be the cleanest and most fuel efficient within that class.
Top
In 2001, ten vehicle models achieve the top 5-star rating. They are
certain versions of the Honda Insight, Honda Civic HX, Toyota Prius,
Honda Civic, Mazda 626, Honda Accord, Saturn LI00/200, Toyota
Camry, Pontiac Aztek, and the Mercedes-Benz ML320. Over time, we
expect many more models to move into the 5-star category.
Vehicles rated the same number of stars are not necessarily equal in
emission and fuel economy performance because the star rating is class-
based. Thus, the star ratings cannot be used to compare vehicles from
different classes. Even the lowest rated vehicles today are significantly
cleaner than vehicles of 10 and 20 years ago.
For
For questions or comments about the Green Vehicle Guide, you can send
an email message to: autoemissions@epa.gov.
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