Most "green" cars illegal to sell in 42 states

[liberal N proud]

Dirty Secret: Green Cars
Automakers Won't Sell You
by Lawrence Ulrich
Buying these environmentally friendly cars often depends on where you live.

Accord, the latest version of this family favorite. The new Accord boasts an environmental first: a six-cylinder gasoline engine that's cleaner than many hybrid systems.
There's only one catch: You can't actually buy this ultra-green Accord, or the four-cylinder version that also produces near-zero pollution. That is, unless you live in California, New York or six other northeast states that follow California's tougher pollution rules. Only there can you buy this Accord, or the roughly two dozen other models that meet so-called Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle standards, PZEV for short.

Not only can't you buy one, but the government says it's currently illegal for automakers to sell these green cars outside of the special states. Under terms of the Clean Air Act—in the kind of delicious irony only our government can pull off—anyone (dealer, consumer, automaker) involved in an out-of-bounds PZEV sale could be subject to civil fines of up to $27,500. Volvo sent its dealers a memo alerting them to this fact, noting that its greenest S40 and V50 models were only for the special states.

It's not all the fault of the car companies. The crazy quilt of environmental regulations is forcing carmakers to design and build two versions of the same cars. And it costs real money to make a car this green. So in states where there are no regulations to force their hand,automakers don't want to have to boost their prices for the green versions—or to simply eat the extra cost and make less profit.

http://autos.msn.com/advice/article.aspx?contentid=4024974

[niyad]

1. so what happens if I buy a car in one of the intelligent states, and bring it back to this 19th cent

state, where, for example, the public transit system is a disgrace and practically useless?

[liberal N proud]

2. I was contemplating the same thing

I live in Ohio but I have always bought my cars in Missouri because I have a friend who owns a dealership and the deal I get is better than I can get around here.
So what happens if I go to New York and buy one? I don't know of any laws that prevent it but who would think they would pass laws preventing dealers from selling environmentally friendly cars? Oh least I forget, the bu$h regime and republicons in bed with the oil company and automakers.

[high density]

4. I dunno why the oil companies would care

The PZEV equipment doesn't increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. I have a PZEV car and it gets the same mileage as the non-PZEV equivalent, but with a bit less peak horsepower and much better emissions. On the EPA's "air pollution score" scale, my car gets a 9.5 with PZEV, but the non-PZEV vehicle gets only a 6.

[sakabatou]

3. Clean Air Act

What a misnoimer

[LiberalAndProud]

5. War is peace

really!