DrInnovation said:
I never understood how the PiP qualified since its unlikely it will ever be in EV at highway speeds, of if it is the driver will be slowing down traffic.
I guess it depends on the HOV lane goals.. encouraging higher MPG or reducing the number of cars. If its the former, it would be more interesting to define its goal as a maximum gallon per 1000 passenger miles, say expected G/PKM of, so 1 person in a BEV (or maybe volt if average distance in HOV lanes < 70), 2 people in a Prius/PiP, 3 in 35mph sedan, 4 people in 25MPG SUV..
I can't speak to CA's HOV incentive goals off the top of my head, aside from encouraging actual carpooling to reduce # of cars (which stickers don't help with), it seems like these are also goals:
- encouraging the people to buy vehicles that produce fewer GHG (tied to the fuel economy requirements, since CO2 emissions are directly proportional to the amount of a given fuel burned)
- reducing pollutants other than CO2 (e.g. NOx, carcinogens, smog forming compounds, etc. see http://web.archive.org/web/20110212085218/http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Aboutratings.do#aboutairpollution" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
Both of the above also appear to by why there's both a FE requirement and later AT-PZEV requirement (see http://web.archive.org/web/20060203152614/http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
.
Better FE ---> less CO2 emitted.
PZEV --- > fewer harmful pollutants (http://web.archive.org/web/20110213212304/http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/detailedchart.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false
. EPA didn't even classify CO2 as a pollutant until a few years ago.
Most of the monstrosity class (full-sized) SUVs (e.g. Tahoes, Suburbans, Escalades, etc.) I see running around are usually driven solo or w/minimal cargo and passengers. It's very rare to see one with 4 people in it, let alone 4 that are of driving age. Those beasts don't achieve 20 mpg combined on the EPA test. They're more like 15-17 mpg combined.
Unfortunately, http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Index.do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is busted, but I don't recall any monstrosity class ones that score a 9/10 on the EPA smog/air pollution score, which would give it a PZEV rating.