I was looking at the www.fueleconomy.gov site and it got me thinking about my own HAH. How do I know which emission standard I have?

I know I've seen some cars with the ULEV II decal in the rear door windows. I checked mine, but since my windows were tinted, they could have been removed.

I looked at the decal (unless I was looking at the wrong one) under the hood, but it only says 5HNXV03.01B4 which is the same for both standards.

Are there any other characteristics or telltale signs which allude to how mine is equipped? I guess it really doesn't matter. I would just like to know.

 

Any HAH sold outside the clean states is bin5, which is LEV II for the clean states. They are equivalent air pollution ratings (6). The sticker on mine just says "ULEV/bin5" as does the fine print under the hood. The hood also mentions "LEV II in CA"The ULEV on the sticker with no I or II is a throwback to the older system in CA, I think?

ULEV II (bin4 for the rest of us) carries a higher rating of 7. I don't think the HAH got upgraded in the clean states, but it might have if it was tested on their low-sulphur boutique fuel? In any case, there is no difference in the vehicle- it simply tests cleaner when cleaner fuel is used for the test.

edit:

The HAH sold in CA, etc DOES carry a ULEVII rating- it scored a 7. 6 for the rest of the nation.
http://www.epa.gov/emissweb/E-HONDA-AccordHybrid-05.htm

Still, its the fuel not the car. Only the PZEV rating carries specific hardware changes (and better warrantee) with it.

This is only for the 05. I believe all 06s are PZEV nationwide (but only carry the warrantee in the clean states where it is required, I think)

 

Thanks for the info.

Mine is an AZ car, and ULEV II is available in my state. That's why I was curious if the one I got was a ULEV II.

After thinking about it for a while, I realized it's probably on my Monroney sticker. Looking at it, I see under technical features it says CARB-Certified ULEV2. But then at the bottom where it says emission, it says 50 state. So I'm guessing mine is ULEV2 that's available outside of CA.

Also, guess I didn't pay much attention to this sticker when I bought this car. I didn't realize it had electronic brake distribution! Coolness. Although, I'd like it to have vehicle stability assist.

 

so if the honda fit is LEV II and the toyota yaris is a SULEV II , then which is the cleaner car? the versa's emssions yet have to be released.

 

SULEV II/bin2 is 'better' than LEV II. SULEV II is a step under PZEV.

Here's the listing of what's what:
http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/about.htm
Other links on that page will give you more granularity and the California-to-national cross reference.

Bar- Since AZ borders a clean state, so the higher-rated vehicles are available there. Same thing in the East- they are avail in NJ since it borders NY. I forgot about that part.

As for the 50-state cert, its my understanding that a vehicle meeting a more stringent CA standard will be recognized nationally- hence you did get a ULEVII/bin4 sticker, even though the low-sulphur fuel necessary to actually achieve that rating is not normally available in AZ. Had that speific VIN been targeted for sale outside one of those states it would have gotten a LEVII/bin5 cert.

 

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interesting... thanks for the update Wayne. I'm very surprised that Versa having the bigger engine, power, effciency and emissions; thus giving them a big advantage in this market. Although I think its all thanks to their Xtronic CVT that they have been working on for some time now, which I assume is the configuation for the versa mentioned. Unless its the same for all transmissions then boy that's crazy!

Oh and when you said does that mean its confirmed?

 

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or have the solid reliablity of honda's or toyota's. The mexico plant that built the 2000-2005 sentras had below average reliability. Although Nissan invested millions in upgrading the capacity of the plant to 70% to help build the revamped Sentra and Versa, however, does that mean realiability is the same also?

I'm do have high hope for the Yaris sedan though, that will fare better than the 5 door hatchback we got currently. Its poorly priced and you barely get what honda and nissan is offering. Its just you got to wait a little till the weather gets warmer ;(