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Interest in alternative fuels increased during the energy shortages of the mid-1970's and has continued due to the perceived potential environmental benefits of these fuels compared to conventional gasoline. However, the results from the British Columbia emissions inspection and maintenance program since 1992 indicate that environmental benefits have not usually been realised in practice. There are two common routes to acquiring an alternative fuel vehicle. The first option is to convert an existing gasoline-fuelled vehicle to run on either natural gas or propane. The second option is to buy alternative fuel vehicles offered by automotive manufacturers, known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) vehicles. The majority of in-use natural gas and propane vehicles are aftermarket conversions. Propane and natural gas vehicles can be either mono-fuel or bi-fuel. Mono-fuel vehicles run exclusively on gaseous fuels while bi-fuel models can run on both gaseous fuels and standard gasoline.

The AirCare® vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance program is briefly described, together with the benefits which the program has already achieved. Additional benefits have been projected should the program include some more sophisticated assessment of evaporative emission control systems. The feasibility of including such an assessment has been investigated, and a pilot study has been conducted in the regular inspection lanes. The operational and systems implications are described. The pilot study has resulted in an analysis of the incidence of faulty gas caps in the Lower Fraser Valley light-duty vehicle fleet, and how this relates to other vehicle characteristics such as vehicle make, model, model year, mileage etc.; and inspection data including emission control system components tampering and tailpipe emissions. Approximately 10% of all gas caps tested failed the pressure test, compared to the 1% that were failed by visual inspection.