"Conventional" hybrids kicked out of California carpool lanes

[trooper Tdiesel]

a little known bit of info.

a truck or car that is duel-fuel gas/LPG or gas/CNG can get CA clean air stickers,

and not be ran on alt fuel ever, if the driver chooses to and run in the HOV lane

[cfg83]

trooper Tdiesel -

Originally Posted by trooper Tdiesel

a little known bit of info.

a truck or car that is duel-fuel gas/LPG or gas/CNG can get CA clean air stickers,

and not be ran on alt fuel ever, if the driver chooses to and run in the HOV lane

That sounds like the Arizona scandal (tax breaks for dual-fuel cars that never use the cleaner fuel).

I don't see a dual-fuel car in this California list (going back to 1991) :

Eligible Vehicles - Single Occupant Carpool Lane Use Stickers

Which one is the dual-fuel?

CarloSW2

[trooper Tdiesel]

under the white one its says CNG
January 1, 2015 is when the white ones expire


go to say year 2004 on that list it has ford F-150 CNG model listed
theres nothing on there that says dedicated or duel fuel. just CNG fueled

fueleconomy.gov list 2004 f-150 as being made bolth ways that year, and several other years.
Find a Car

also the CA clean air/HOV form is very loose in regards to duel-fuel
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg1000.pdf

[dcb]

I'm not getting it trooper. If it isn't dual fuel, "dedicated" is implied, i.e. "dedicated gasoline". The form says "check one", of which CNG is an option and gasoline is not. There are no provisions for dual fuel, likely because they cannot guarantee you will use the preferred fuel as has been mentioned.

The fueleconomy site lists the truck as CNG, it isn't dual fuel as far as I can tell. They have Dual Fuel trucks, but they are not on the form.

[HighMPG]

Man, At least I won't feel bad taking the stickers off to clean up the black trim! Sucks we don't get any love but if a plug in mod was performed isn't there a way to get the car reclassified? At least being a 2 seater I can get away in 3 person carpool lanes with one more person.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Shame a "Hybid" Lexus getting what, mid 20s maybe 30MPG gets a carpool sticker but a Metro/TDI/Basjoos/etc getting 50MPG (and up) get stuck in traffic.
It was a good law, but was too abused by the mild hybrids.

The so-called mild hybrids shouldn't even be considered hybrids since there's no electric auxiliary traction.

And sure, considering the efficiency and adaptability to alternative fuels of a Diesel, or the light weight of a Metro it was quite unfair that a Prius had that privilege. Prius fans might wanna kill me for that, but considering the amount of chemicals on the hybrid drive battery packs and the footprint of their manufacturing, either a Jetta TDI or a rust-bucket Rabbit Diesel are way more "eco-friendly" than any Prius would ever be.

[MetroMPG]

Cripple Rooster: that last point isn't accurate. The largest component of a vehicle's environmental "footprint" is the amount of fuel it burns over its lifetime, which dwarfs the manufacturing process.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Cripple Rooster: that last point isn't accurate. The largest component of a vehicle's environmental "footprint" is the amount of fuel it burns over its lifetime, which dwarfs the manufacturing process.

Not attempting to hypermile, a Prius is expected to have a 4L/100KM under European standards, while an Opel Astra 1.3CDTi delivers the same fuel-efficiency without that heavy expensive battery pack. Then, the battery and all its manufacturing (including mineral extractions involved), recycling and all the logistics (fuel expenses, etc.) from the mining site to the recycling station are still considerable.

[redpoint5]

If concern for the environment and conservation of resources were the primary purpose of the HOV lanes, then the Cadillac Escalades, Ford Excursions, Hummers, tanks, etc would all get priority access so they can get off the highway as quickly as possible. A Prius can sit in stop and go traffic all day long without burning much, if any fuel. I don't know what the fuel consumption rate of an idling Hummer is, but it can't be good. Certainly a Prius consumes less energy in stop and go traffic than an Excursion.

The HOV lanes are pointless and always have been. Carpooling has incentives built in such as saving money, or freeing up driving time for something more productive (or relaxing), or "saving" the environment, or conserving resources...

Why the gov't thinks it needs to give extra incentive to do things that already have wonderful incentives is beyond me. Perhaps I lack sufficient Edgeukation.

[star_deceiver]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

I would bet if average speeds on Interstates were 80 MPH, traffic fatalities would double.

The speed limit of I-15 between Salt Lake City, UT and the Arizona border is half 75, half 80mph. Everybody did 80 +/- 1 or 2 mph... from Prius to Hummer to 18 wheeler. The state troopers were out there, none of them ever had anyone pulled over.

SLC, UT to St. George, UT - 444kms on 31.6L - 7.1L/100kms - 33mpg

As for the carpool lanes, get rid of them! I've always found that (in most big cities: L.A, San Fran, Vancouver BC) the slowest lane is the HOV lane... except for Seattle... HOV lane users in Seattle know how to fly down the road!!