The Jewel of California’s ZEV Program

When the California Air Resources Board (ARB) revamped its Zero Emission Vehicle program in 2004, the most impressive change was not better batteries or more aerodynamic designs, but a whole new class of car called the Partial Zero Emission Vehicle, or PZEV. While advanced technology fuel cell vehicles have garnered worldwide attention, PZEVs are shaping up as the unsung heroes of the California ZEV program. With annual sales estimated to be 140,000 vehicles, they are already the most recognizable and certainly the most heavily used cars in the program. As sales continue, ARB estimates that more than 850,000 PZEVs will be on California roads by 2010 with more than one million by 2015. We are hopeful that the sales of AT-PZEVs (Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicles, e.g. hybrids), another jewel in the ZEV program, will follow the dramatic increase in sales of PZEVs.

The ARB created the PZEV class to address the growing numbers of new vehicle models that carried some zero emission technology but still released emissions from the tailpipe. These vehicles are easy to obtain because of their relatively low sales costs and they often perform better than their conventional counterparts, as well. Technology such as zero evaporative emissions (meaning no emissions from anywhere other than the tailpipe) is standard on every car with the PZEV moniker. The vehicles’ emissions systems must also be warranted for 150,000 miles so that second, third, and maybe even fourth owners of these cars will still be driving vehicles that are clean running. This is a key component since most often the least fortunate members of the population drive the highest emitting vehicles, thus further degrading what are often the most heavily polluted communities.

The original ZEV requirement, of course, contained nothing like a PZEV category. It is truly a product of the zero emission requirement, which pushed manufacturers to work harder to develop cars that are affordable, clean running, and attractive to the public. It is a living testament to the wonderful ability and creativity of outstanding engineers. There are currently 20 models of PZEVs offered by 12 different manufacturers for sale in California, ranging from the Ford Focus to the BMW 325. They are mostly small to mid-size cars with equipment that appeals to most buyers, at prices you don’t have to be in high income brackets to afford.

One of the most attractive things about PZEVs is their clean-running ability. Another requirement for designating a vehicle as PZEV is that it must meet the world’s toughest tailpipe emissions standard for internal combustion engines, the SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) standard, and the vehicle must maintain that clean-running standard throughout its useful life. That standard, coupled with the zero evaporative emission requirement, makes these vehicles the cleanest ever produced that operate with gasoline engines.

Perhaps for convenience, the most appealing feature of PZEVs is that they are gasoline powered. The familiarity of gasoline and affordable prices make PZEVs the ideal vehicles for people who want to participate in cleaning their air, but are leery of new technologies such as fuel cells, battery power, or even hybrids.

With these features and their low acquisition costs, PZEVs may have another impact on the car buying public that is more far-reaching than any other: the introduction of young drivers to highly efficient, low polluting technology. These young drivers are the beneficiaries of 15 years of work on the ZEV program by government and industry experts to perfect ideas for cleaner cars. PZEVs today are equipped with virtually every important air pollution control technology available for gasolinepowered passenger cars. As a result, young drivers get to learn the advantages of these technological breakthroughs in the course of their everyday lives, without having to make sacrifices or compromises in quality, durability, or costs in the vehicles they drive.

Alan Lloyd is Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (www.calepa.ca.gov).