The Green Car Club unites owners and enthusiasts of environmentally cleaner cars.

Frequently Asked Questions About Green Cars

1. What are the different types of  Green Cars?

• Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFVs), that use cleaner-burning fossil fuels like propane and CNG (compressed natural gas).

• AFV’s that burn renewable fuels like biodiesel or ethanol.

• Pure Electric Vehicles (EV’s) that are powered by rechargeable batteries or fuel cells.

• Hybrid cars that combine electric and internal combustion drives for greater efficiency and convenience.

2. Are there government standards for the amount of pollution cars and trucks emit?

Yes, there are two basic sets of standards:

1. Federal Standards – The current standard is called Tier I and requires all vehicles to meet certain air pollution emission standards. More stringent federal standards, called Tier II, will go into effect in 2004.

2. California Standards – The California Air Resources Board started with the federal Tier I standard and then created various standards based on the percentage of a typical Tier I vehicle’s emissions that are avoided. A "LEV" (low emission vehicle), for example, reduces nitrous oxide emissions by 50% and hydrocarbons by 70%.
The full set of California standards are (from most polluting to least):
                                                          LEV – "Low Emission Vehicle"
      ULEV – "Ultra Low Emission Vehicle
      SULEV – "Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle"
      ZEV – "Zero Emission Vehicle"*

For more detail on these standards see: http://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/light.html.
When purchasing a new vehicle, you can find out which standard it meets by asking the dealer to show you the vehicles’ "Vehicle Emissions Control Information" sticker.

3. What is a hybrid car?

A hybrid is a car that combines internal combustion and electric-drive technology into one chassis. Working simultaneously ("series" model), or individually ("parallel" model), these two power sources provide higher levels of efficiency working together than an internal combustion engine can achieve by itself. Most hybrids also maintain the convenience of using the existing fuel (gasoline) delivery system.

4. Is there any sacrifice in driving a hybrid versus a regular gasoline powered car?

No.  Current hybrids are among the smaller categories of cars, but carmakers are working on larger models and even SUV’s for release in the next year or two. See an example at: http://www.autointell-news.com/news-2000/April-2000/April-11-00-p1.htm. Hybrids drive just like any other car and have more than enough power for passing and freeway driving.

5. Are there any government incentives available for the purchase of a "green" car?

Yes, an updated list can be downloaded from the following site: http://www.evaa.org/evaa/pages/Enacted_State_Legislation.PDF.

6. If electric powered cars can be "Zero Emission Vehicles", how do you account for the pollution emitted by the power plants that make the electricity in the first place?

Even coal and oil-fired electricity generating plants produce their pollution at a "centralized" location. This allows for better pollution controls (like sophisticated "scrubbers") and keeps the most concentrated emissions away from the core of heavily urbanized areas. Internal-combustion vehicles, on the other hand, emit the highest concentration of pollutants right where it does the most harm – the center of major cities where auto traffic is slow and heavy.
Electricity can also be generated by non-polluting means like solar and wind power. Consequently, with the substantially higher efficiency of electric vehicles, pollution’s effect on people can be considerably less than with today’s gas and diesel cars and trucks.
In addition, the latest development in electric vehicles, those powered by hydrogen-fueled fuel cells, hold promise of being a true emission-free solution to our current pollution and energy dependence problems (assuming hydrogen will be generated using solar, wind or other non-polluting power.)