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I googled without success and searched the forums here also.

I heard something at HF08 and want to make sure this is correct. Not sure which speaker said this.

A vehicle w/ AT-PZEV rating in a nonattainment area actually cleans the air as you drive it around. Is this true?

Can you point me to the data or studies to back this up.

Thanks

Ryan

I don't know the answer to your question, but this does remind me of other technologies designed to do just that. The best example is a coating applied to the radiator by Volvo (and probably others) that catalyzes ozone back to atmospheric oxygen. In a city with high ozone levels (like mine, today) a vehicle so-equipped does clean that one pollutant out of the air as it drives.

My gut feeling on AT-PZEV vehicles cleaning the air is that it is probably a myth, or at least an exaggeration. The reason is that a PZEV doesn't literally mean zero emissions of any given pollutant. Rather, it means that tailpipe emissions are very low and that evaporative emissions (i.e. from the fuel system) are theoretically zero. My gut could be wrong, but I have a hard time believing that the concentration of harmful pollutants in the intake air would be worse than the exhaust after gasoline combustion, even with perfect mixture control and the use of catalytic converter.

I'll be interested to see if anybody has documentation. If not I might have to go looking for it myself. For a worst-case, one might go looking for the air quality data that the BBC recorded in Beijing a couple weeks ago. Supposedly it's pretty hideous.

Hi Ryan:

___That was me. In a heavily smog laydened area (EPA non-attainment as stated), NOx and PM are higher going into a PZEV’s air intake than is coming out of the tail pipe.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Ryan:

___That was me. In a heavily smog laydened area (EPA non-attainment as stated), NOx and PM are higher going into a PZEV’s air intake than is coming out of the tail pipe.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

It should be noted that SULEV-II is the same thing, just no emissions system warranty.

Hi Marc:

___Very close indeed. PZEV’s are all SULEV-II’s except PZEV’s also include the evaporative emissions minimums that a vehicle spec’ed at SULEV-II cannot meet. Or was limited not to meet so they did not receive the lengthy warranty the PZEV's receive in the clean states :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne