EPA to ease emission limits, reports say, setting up clash with California

Chrome exhaust pipeThe omens have been accumulating for months, as bits of information dribble out of the regulatory rumor mill in Washington, D.C. Now we have the most concrete reports yet that the U.S. EPA plans to modify exhaust emission limits for vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. The EPA delivered its draft Final Determination document to the Office of...

CARB steps up shadow-EPA role with new building, vehicle testing lab

Site of new California Air Resources Board headquarters, Riverside, CA, Oct 2017For 45 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has been charged with protecting the U.S. from pollution in its air, water, and land. Under the Trump Administration, its administrator Scott Pruitt is aggressively muzzling and removing scientists, eradicating climate-science from its activities, and eliminating dozens of regulations. That makes...

Toyota to study Mirai-derived fuel-cell tech for heavy-duty trucks

Toyota 'Project Portal' proof-of-concept hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi tractor, for Port of LAToyota announced on Thursday that it will begin testing in two California ports a hydrogen fuel-cell heavy-duty truck adapted from the Toyota Mirai's powertrain for drayage use. Initially, Toyota is looking at how it can use hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicles to significantly reduce vehicle emissions in short-haul situations, such as at...

Modifications to oldest, dirtiest VW, Audi TDI diesels approved by EPA

Volkswagen TDI 'clean diesel' television ad screencapVW Group of North America now owns hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen and Audi TDI diesel vehicles it has bought back from owners under the terms of various diesel emission scandal settlements. Yesterday, it got some very good news: the EPA has approved a modification that will it allow it to resell the oldest and dirtiest of those vehicles...

CARB reaffirms state emission, electric-car rules for 2025

California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols (via Twitter)The California Air Resources Board voted Friday to confirm its stricter emissions standards for 2025, setting up a potential clash with the Trump Administration. The CARB vote reaffirms a decision by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration to lock in emissions standards for vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. Under Trump, the...

California conundrum: 2018 Leaf, Bolt EV, or Mirai fuel-cell car?

Nissan Sway ConceptCalifornia is very different from the rest of the United States. All by itself, it's the sixth largest economy in the world. One eighth of all Americans live there. It's home to Silicon Valley, as well as much of the global entertainment industry, and it produces a large proportion of the nation's fruit and vegetables. DON'T MISS: A Brief History...