Do hybrids and alt-fuel (natural gas or propane) vehicles require Drive Clean testing?
Drive Clean program spokesperson Charles Ross replies: Ontario’s Drive Clean test requires vehicles to idle, which low-emission hybrids are not designed to do. Hybrids use the electric motor at low speeds and shut down fully, rather than idle, when stopped. Therefore, hybrid gas/electric vehicles are exempt from Drive Clean. Vehicles powered by natural gas or propane require emissions tests and must meet on-road emissions standards for their make and year. Eric Lai adds: Most measured emissions that could result in a fail would be near zero when running on natural gas or propane, as opposed to gasoline, in a bi-fuel auto. So which fuel are these vehicles tested with? Ross states bi-fuel vehicles are required to be tested with the fuel that was being used when driven into the Drive Clean facility. Q: Do rotating boycotts against the major oil companies, a different one each day, work in lowering gas prices? A: Faith Goodman, vice-president of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute —
