CLICK & CLACK : Partial to Zero  Network News  X Profile View
More Activity Sunday, September 7, 2008  Dear Tom and Ray:  I
got my copy of Drive magazine from Subaru today, and they talk
about a PZEV, which apparently stands for Partial Zero Emission
Vehicle. What is that?  -- Mary Ann  RAY: I'm not a
mathematician, but I don't think there's any such thing as
"partial zero." The story of PZEV involves a lot of letters,
Mary Ann. It starts with an Environmental Protection Agency
emissions standard for cars called LEV, which stood for Low
Emissions Vehicle. That standard set limits for how much a car
could pollute.  TOM: LEV was eventually replaced by ULEV, or the
Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle standard. Then came the current
standard, SULEV, for (you guessed it) Super Ultra Low Emissions
Vehicle. A SULEV vehicle is supposed to produce 90 percent less
emissions than the average vehicle made in 2003. That's pretty
good.  RAY: Here, our story moves from the offices of the EPA in
the District to the sunny state of Ca