Last week, Evelyn Hall of Soquel asked when she could drive her new hybrid solo in car pool lanes.

Initially, sources with Caltrans and the Department of Motor Vehicles told me that a state law allowing her to do so would go into effect Jan. 1, 2005.

However, since then, I’ve learned that the law can’t be enacted until Congress and the president sign off on it as well.

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Hybrids don't belong in *multi-passenger* lanes. Should an Escape Hybrid that only gets 25 mpg be allowed, while someone with a 40 mpg Civic or Jetta is forbidden?

No.

The purpose of HOV lanes is to increase mpgs (25 mpg car * 3 people = 75 mpg), but MAINLY to *reduce the number of vehicles* on the road and alleviate stop-n-go traffic. Hybrids don't reduce the traffic load.

You are correct in that this is not the intended purpose. However, right now it's just being used as an incentive... it won't continue forever. There are only so many people who will carpool. The hybrid consumers is another group altogether.

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Riiiiight. That's what Congress said about the 1898 Spanish-American War phone tax. 106 years later, it's still there.

I don't think we should cross the line. Leave carpool lanes for carpoolers. I don't want to see 25 mpg SUVs using the lanes, just because they happen to have a battery on board..... while 40 mpg Civics & Echoes are excluded. That's unfair.

i thought they were excluded, the "25" mpg ford escape (i thought it was higher)
that's why Ford is having a fit about it

A Prius a day keeps the doctor away!

Hi All:

___A small point although it is still way to low in comparison to what most here receive in whatever they drive … The Ford Escape HEV 2WD/4WD is worth 33.5/31 mpg combined respectively.

___Another interesting note is that it does not include the PZEV HW in some locations of the US including Chicago and Milwaukee! This thing is rated as a very low level LEV in fact which doesn’t make any sense whatsoever … My 03 Ranger P/U is cleaner and receives better fuel economy then the Escape HEV that some will be able to purchase here in the Chicagoland area. How about that for an interesting factoid or two?

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

It gets 30 highway, which is still too low to allow it in the HOV lane. Why should a 30 mpg suv hybrid be allowed, while 40 mpg Civics/Echos/Jettas are excluded?????

I know I'd be pissed if I saw one bypassing my smaller, more efficient car that's stuck in traffic.

Troy

P.S. The reason it's LEV in the central U.S. is because it's cheaper for Ford to provide a 5 year/50,000 mile warranty than to provide a PZEV 10 year/150,000 mile warranty.

Hi ElectricTroy:

___I think I already answered this in another thread. Ford doesn’t have to rate as well as warranty it as a PZEV in any state or locale if they didn’t want to no matter where it is. It is the fact that the PZEV HW has been removed for those few specific locations and the prospective buyer’s will be totally unaware.

____You have visited the EPA emissions sites more then once, right?

___Fortunately, the HOV lane issue won’t be a problem for most locales that have them and are considering Hybrid – single passenger use because of the 45 mpg EPA average as a minimum requirement.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Ford actually removed the *hardware*??? I find that hard to believe. Source for verification? Also what exactly was removed?

Hi ElectricTroy:

___It is called leaving the PZEV HW off during production. There are probably quite a few more pieces to the puzzle but it mainly consists of an extra CAT or more efficient single, robust vapor tubing connections, usually a bladdered steel or extremely well sealed plastic tank, a few more O2 sensors, and an ECU that knows what to look at as well as knows what do IIRC. The Intake’s are somewhat changed in that they are usually sealed but the tuning can be more advanced as well.

___Where the details are located, Google should get you started.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net