Search Results

Basing its conclusions on over one million gasoline vehicle inspections and over 30,000 alternative fuelled vehicle inspections, this paper examines the pass/fail records for each fuel; the problems most common to failing vehicles; and repair strategies used to correct those problems. The paper specifically describes the relationship between the level of technology used in alternative fuel systems and their emissions performance. It is shown that alternative fuelled vehicles are not inherently clean, and that to meet the same emissions standards as gasoline vehicles the alternative fuel system should employ the same level of technology as used in the original gasoline vehicle.

This paper describes the certification of the automotive repair industry with respect to the British Columbia Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program, more commonly referred to as the AirCare Program. A training program has been developed to ensure that technicians have the knowledge, and can develop the necessary expertise, to repair emissions systems on vehicles that have failed inspection. A performance monitoring system allows detailed review of individual technicians performance.

Propane and natural gas vehicles are perceived by the public as having low exhaust emissions. However, the results of an emissions inspection program started in British Columbia in 1992 indicate that this is not usually the case. The study reported in this paper addresses two questions which arose from these results: ‘Why do propane and natural gas vehicles fail the inspection in such large numbers?’ and ‘What needs to be done to fix the problem?’ The project comprises three phases. Phase one is to establish the profile of the alternative fuel vehicle fleet in the Province; the way in which they usually fail emissions inspection; the types of repairs received after failing; and the effectiveness of those repairs in reducing emissions. Phase two is to formulate general repair stategies which can be applied in the great majority of cases and therefore effectively become recognized by government agencies, the conversion industry, and the repair industry.

The British Columbia emissions inspection and maintenance program is briefly described. An analysis of repairs and inspection reports has shown a very high proportion of repairs to be effective in reducing emissions. The imposition of a NOx standard has meant that HC and CO reductions have been achieved without increasing NOx emissions. The NOx emissions of vehicles that fail the inspection because of the NOx standard have usually been reduced by appropriate repairs. Emission repairs have also resulted in fuel ecomony gains typically around 7%.

In December 1995, the Province of British Columbia announced the introduction of more stringent automobile emissions standards for vehicles sold in the province commencing with the 1998 model year. The emissions standards are based on the model utilized by the State of California as outlined in Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations. In addition, the Federal Government of Canada has announced that the British Columbia standards may be adopted on a national basis. This announcement, coupled with other initiatives outlined by the Province of British Columbia in its Clean Air Strategy has provided the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) with the opportunity to develop an advanced training program on automobile emissions to ensure a knowledge base needed to meet the demands of implementation of enhanced inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs in the North America. This paper will discuss the outline of the proposed course.

The British Columbia vehicle emissions inspection and maintenance, I/M, program, AirCare, has monitored the performance of technicians and repair centres since program inception. The purpose of performance monitoring is to oversee the effectiveness of technicians who are certified to perform emissions related repairs after a vehicle has failed the initial I/M inspection. Since June, 1995, the Program Administration Office, PAO, has been working on refining the parameters used to assess repair effectiveness. This paper describes the development and implementation of Repair Effectiveness Indices to monitor the effectiveness of repairs performed by the certified automotive repair industry with respect to the AirCare Program. Repair Effectiveness Indices, REIs, apply to certified repair technicians and repair centres and are provided to the technicians and repair centres on a regular basis.