Colorado State Wants To Know: Will Smart Cars Reduce Emissions?
Wednesday, November 19, 1997
FORT COLLINS--The National Center for Vehicle Emissions
Control and Safety at Colorado State University will be receiving
over $1.3 million in federal, state and private funds to find out
if the check engine light on your dashboard can really reduce
pollution.
Check engine lights are built-in computers that alert
drivers when their cars' emissions are high and warn them of
potential engine trouble. The computers, called on-board
diagnostics, have been gradually phased in since 1978, and are
mandated on all light duty vehicles sold after 1996.
"On-board diagnostics are the future of emissions control,
but there are major technical and social issues which need to be
addressed so that on-board diagnostics actually result in cleaner
air," said Birgit Wolff, director of the National Center for
Vehicle Emissions Control and Safety at Colorado State. "With
this study we will find out how drivers will respond to the
technology, if the on-board diagnostics technology is reliable
and how mechanics can be trained to fix cars with on-board
diagnostics."
The on-board diagnostics study will include consumer
research to find out if the public will accept the technology and
allow it to work the way that it has been designed. If consumers
ignore the service engine light and don't take their vehicles in
when prompted, the on-board diagnostics could result in more
pollution. Studies also will be done on owners' tampering with
emissions control devices.
"We know that in the past, vehicle owners have often ignored
check engine lights unless the drivability of their vehicle
became severely impaired, but we don't know how they will respond
to the signals they receive from their on-board diagnostic
equipped cars," Wolff said.
In the future, on-board diagnostics may include transponders
on cars which would allow a vehicle's identification and
emissions status to be reported to a remote location. Research
will include consumer studies to find out if drivers will reject
the new technology because of privacy issues, or if they will
feel cleaner air is worth the tradeoff.
Wolff said transponders may also cause controversy because
they could open the door for such measures as lockouts on high
pollution days or remote disabling of a car if it does not comply
with emissions standards. Even though future generations of on-
board diagnostics have the potential to eliminate the need for
present-day inspection and maintenance programs, consumers may
feel potential negative results outweigh the convenience of fewer
emissions tests and trips to the mechanic.
The on-board diagnostics study also will test the computer
hardware and software to find out if they work as claimed by
manufacturers. Tests will be conducted over time on vehicles that
are being used in the real world instead of the laboratory. If
the technology proves unreliable, a car's emissions could appear
to be low, but actually be at an unacceptable level.
In addition, the study will address training of mechanics in
the new computer systems. On-board diagnostics are moving toward
giving a detailed diagnosis of car trouble and giving mechanics
instructions on how to fix it. Since on-board diagnostics soon
will be found on every vehicle, automotive technicians will need
to be trained nationwide to read the computers, find problems and
make effective repairs. Repair shops will need new equipment,
hardware and software to service the on-board diagnostic equipped
vehicles. The study will address these challenges and offer
recommendations.
"This project will position us as national leaders in
emissions research," Wolff said. "The study fits well into the
White House agenda and helps to address the current questions of
climate change and pollution. The center's research will have a
major impact on the evolution of on-board diagnostics, public
policy and emissions reductions."
The National Center for Vehicle Emissions Control and Safety
opened in 1976 and is the nation's only university-based center
devoted exclusively to the study of light-duty vehicle emissions
control. The center is part of the College of Applied Human
Sciences.
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