Find Out How Much Your Car Pollutes

On May 19, 2009, President Obama announced an agreement to increase car fuel mileage to a national average of 35 miles per gallon.  While that will help clean up the environment, cut green house gas emissions, and improve gas mileage, there is also something every driver and car owner can do – know how clean your car is.

Fortunately, there is a simple way to find out.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an easy to use, online tool that will tell you what your car’s “greenhouse gas” score is.  You’ll not only be able to tell how much your car pollutes, but if you are in the market to buy a car it’ll tell you how much the car you want pollutes.

The EPA’s “greenhouse gas” score will tell you how much your car adds to global warning by analyzing your mileage and the fuel it uses – whether that’s traditional gas, natural gas, diesel, ethanol or other fuel.  It also shows you how to read and interpret the new gas mileage labels found on all new cars.

How the score works

The score is rated from one to 10, with 10 being the least polluting/green house gas-producing vehicle.  So, you’ll find the Toyota Prius at the top of the list, while a gas-guzzler like a huge SUV is at the bottom.

The site gives you three options.  You can look up a specific car by model year (including state, model make and the specific model).  Or you can look up the specific vehicle and type.  And you can look up the greenest vehicles by year. 

What are the SmartWay Options?

In the latter category you have two choices – the “SmartWay” or the “SmartWay Elite” version.  The former is a designation earned by those vehicles that have combined air pollution and greenhouse gas scores that place them in the top tier (approximately the top 20 percent) of environmental performers. SmartWay Elite is reserved for the best of the best – those vehicles that score nine or better on each of the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Scores.  For example, using the SmartWay Elite version and searching for all 2011 vehicles in California, you’ll come up with a list of 13 cars that will meet the standard.

Want even more detailed information?  The EPA lets you perform an advanced search that allows you to search across multiple years, states and car makes/models and other criteria.

Several other search options are available

That’s not all.  You can easily perform a number of other information searches.  For example you can find:

1. The combined fuel economy in miles per gallon for any car or truck.

2. Total fuel consumption for any car/truck (number of gallons consumed per 100 miles of driving).

3. An estimate of the annual fuel costs for any model.

4. Emission information such as emission certification standards for a particular car and the allowable maximum emission levels per mile for four pollutants (Nitrous Oxide, Carbon Monoxide, NMOG, and Particulate Matter), and the pounds per year of smog forming pollution emitted by a vehicle.  You’ll also find out the tons per year of greenhouse gases emitted by any car or truck.

5. You can get a “buyer’s checklist” that you can print out that will give you all of the above information and more detail on any car/truck you select, or already own.

6. The site gives you additional tips on how to improve the performance of your car while polluting less.  For example, did you know that when the weather is warm you should gas up early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce the amount of emissions being pushed out of your gas tank during the heat of the day?  It’s those emissions that form smog.

So, if gas mileage numbers bandied about by politicians and the car industry are confusing to you, you have a powerful tool to help.  Best of all, it’s free.