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APRIL 1996 CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION Pete Wilson, Governor The ABCs of AFVs – A Guide to Alternative Fuel Vehicles Page – 1 Note About the Internet / PDF Version of the ABCs of AFVs… Page numbers have been changed in this Adobe Acrobat Portable Document File (PDF) format edition from Roman numerals for cover and introductory pages to Arabic numerals. They, therefore, will not agree with page numbers on the Table of Contents page. All other content remains the same. We apologize for any inconvenience. Page – 2 The ABCs of AFVs – A Guide to Alternative Fuel Vehicles The ABCs of AFVs – A Guide to Alternative Fuel Vehicles Page – 3 Lists of contacts in this document are provided as a public service by the California Energy Commission. They are not intended as an endorsement of any product, company or service. The California Energy Commission, its management and staff make no claims, implied or otherwise, about the information listed here. We apologize for any errors that may occur. The contact lists are also provided and updated on the Energy Commission’s Internet site. The address (URL) of the Commission’s Homepage is: http://www.energy.ca.gov/energy/ Please send corrections of updates via Internet e-mail to [email protected] or by regular mail to: Bob Aldrich Information Officer California Energy Commission 1516 Ninth Street, MS-29 Sacramento, CA 95814 PUBLICATION INFORMATION First Edition Printing January 9, 1995 Second Edition Printing February 10, 1995 Includes Session Summary and list of attendees of California Alternative Fuel Vehicle Partnership (CAFVP) Sympoisum, and map and list of public EV recharging facilities in California. Third Edition Printing April 2, 1996 This edition updates many portions of the document and makes corrections to unintended minor errors in content. The Summary Session and list of attendees of the CAFVP Symposium have been deleted from this edition. This edition will be made available in its entirety on the Commission’s Internet site as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) file. SEND UPDATE INFORMATION TO: [email protected] or call 916-654-4993. Page – 4 The ABCs of AFVs – A Guide to Alternative Fuel Vehicles Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ iii Introduction What is the California Alternative Fuel Vehicle Partnership? ...................................................... v What is the California Energy Commission? .............................................................................v Chapter 1 - An Overview of Alternative Fuel Vehicles What are Alternative Fuel Vehicles? ........................................................................................1 Why AFVs Are Important ....................................................................................................... 1 Alternative Fuels Are Cleaner ................................................................................................. 2 Emission Characteristics of Alternative Fuels ............................................................................ 3 Energy Content of Alternative Fuels ......................................................................................... 3 History of California’s Involvement in Clean, Alternative Fuel Vehicle Development ..................... 5 Deciding Which Fuels Are Best For You or Your Fleet .............................................................. 10 Chapter 2 - Regulations and Requirements in the U.S. & California Federal Laws ....................................................................................................................... 11 California Regulations ......................................................................................................... 11 Comparison of Clean Air Act and National Energy Policy Act (Table) ...................................... 12 Local Air District Regulations ................................................................................................ 19 Bay Area Air Quality Management District...................................................................... 19 Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District .............................................. 19 South Coast Air Quality Management District .................................................................. 21 San Diego County Air Pollution Control District ................................................................ 21 San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District ................................................... 22 State and Federal Incentives for Alternative Fuel Vehicles........................................................ 23 Chapter 3 - Electric Vehicles (EVs) History of Electric Vehicles.................................................................................................... 25 EVs Today ........................................................................................................................... 25 EV Emissions ....................................................................................................................... 26 EVs in Fleets ........................................................................................................................ 27 Questions and Answers About EVs........................................................................................ 27 Electric Vehicles Currently On the Road................................................................................. 29 Current ARB-Certified Electric Vehicles .................................................................................. 31 EV Contacts ........................................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 4 - Ethanol-Powered / Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) History of Alcohol ................................................................................................................43 Modern Alcohol-Powered Vehicles ........................................................................................ 43 Questions and Answers About Ethanol ................................................................................. 45 Current Ethanol-Powered Vehicles Available .......................................................................... 46 Ethanol Contacts .................................................................................................................. 46 Chapter 5 - Methanol-Powered / Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) Fuel and Vehicle History ...................................................................................................... 47 Today’s Prices for Methanol .................................................................................................. 47 Methanol Vehicles Hit the Road............................................................................................. 48 Questions and Answers About M85 and Flexible Fuel Vehicles ............................................... 49 Current Methanol-Powered Vehicles Available ....................................................................... 54 Methanol Contacts .............................................................................................................. 55 The ABCs of AFVs – A Guide to Alternative Fuel Vehicles Page – 5 Chapter 6 - Natural Gas-Powered Vehicles (NGVs) Fuel and Vehicle History and Characteristics.......................................................................... 57 Questions and Answers About NGVs ................................................................................... 58 Questions About Natural Gas............................................................................................... 60 Questions About California’s Natural Gas Supplies ................................................................ 61 NGV Model History ............................................................................................................ 62 NGVs Being Used / Sold ..................................................................................................... 62 Current ARB-Certified NGVs ................................................................................................ 63 NGV Contacts. .................................................................................................................... 64 Chapter 7 - Propane / LPG-Powered Vehicles (LPG) Overview ............................................................................................................................ 67 Current Vehicles Available ................................................................................................... 68 Propane Contacts.................................................................................................................68 Chapter 8 - Heavy-Duty Vehicles & Engines Heavy-Duty Truck Program .................................................................................................. 69 Why the Focus on Methanol and Natural Gas?...................................................................... 69 Safe School Bus Clean Fuel Efficiency Demonstration Program ................................................ 70 ARB-Certified Heavy-Duty Engines and Other Engines Available ............................................. 73 Heavy-Duty Contacts ........................................................................................................... 74 Chapter 9 - 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