So You’re EPA & CARB Certified, So What?

Last week Westport announced it received certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its 2014 model year Westport WiNG™ Power System Ford F-150 pickup truck, with the dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) system. Westport is the only natural gas system provider that currently offers a CARB certified Ford F-150.

Westport also received Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification for its 2015 model year Ford F-250 and F-350 super duty trucks with the Westport WiNG™ bi-fuel CNG system.

What do these certifications mean for consumers?

Paul Shaffer, Westport Vice President, says the certification process is a key part of following state and federal regulations to determine that vehicles are accurately tested to ensure they meet certain emissions levels. Without proper certification the installer and vehicle owners are subject to anti-tampering penalties.

“From a consumer perspective, you can’t just go to the garage down the street and get them to convert your vehicle and meet federal requirements,” Paul says. “The process to become CARB and EPA certified, generally speaking, involves first correctly installing the natural gas equipment, calibrating the settings to include on-board diagnostic monitor adjustments, and then measuring the emission levels from the natural gas conversion.”

Westport vehicles undergo testing in various labs, to ensure they comply with on-board diagnostic parameters – the vehicle’s ability to monitor the various diagnostics in the same manner it does for a gasoline vehicle.

In some cases Westport’s vehicles also meet more stringent emissions levels, including standards for low emission vehicles (LEV), ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) and super ultra low emission vehicle (SULEV).

“California is arguably one of the most significant CNG markets in the US,” Paul says. “The F-150 is a significant fleet vehicle, as many fleets prefer its smaller size.”

California represents an important market for natural gas vehicles, and according to the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, the state’s natural gas fueling infrastructure is the most extensive in the United States—with nearly 600 public and private natural gas stations at the beginning of 2012.

According NGVAmerica, there are about 142,000 NGVs on U.S. roads today and more than 15.2 million worldwide.

Additional Resources:
California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition: http://www.cngvc.org/index.php
California Air Resources Board (ARB): http://www.arb.ca.gov/homepage.htm
Alternative Fuels Data Centre: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/