IMPORTANT REMINDER: EPA does not approve, certify, endorse, or
register any products that pass through this voluntary evaluation
program. Neither does EPA approve, certify, endorse, or register any
independent laboratory or the test results from any independent
laboratory. Any claims by a manufacturer to the contrary are false.
Watch Out!
Consumers are looking for simple and inexpensive means to lower the
cost of driving. The market has responded with a plethora of devices
and fuel additive products which purport to improve fuel economy and/or
reduce emissions. Have you seen advertisements that claim to “Double
Your Fuel Economy,” or that promote a device that “Cleans-up Your Car’s
Tailpipe Exhaust”? Be careful when purchasing these products; don’t be
fooled by erroneous claims. Thoroughly research any aftermarket part or
additive before you add it to your vehicle and don’t forget the old
adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Please visit the following Federal Trade Commission links: FTC
Consumer Alert at
www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt095.shtm and Fact Sheet
for Consumers on Gas Saving Products at
www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/autos/aut10.pdf (PDF)
Fuel Additives
Many fuel additives are advertised to improve fuel economy, reduce
exhaust emissions, or both. Some advertisements claim these products
have been endorsed or approved by EPA. However, EPA does not endorse,
approve, or certify fuel additives.
EPA does require fuel additives to be ‘registered’ but EPA does not
test candidate products for engine efficiency, emissions benefits, or
safety as part of the registration process. To register an additive,
manufacturers must report the chemical composition along with certain
technical, marketing, and health effects information. In some cases the
manufacturer may be required to conduct testing or literature research
to assess potential emissions health effects. The EPA registration
process does not include a check of manufacturer product efficacy
claims. In other words, EPA does not determine whether or not the fuel
additive works as advertised. Registration does not represent
EPA endorsement of the product.
The following are links to all registered fuel additives for:
Alphabetical listing of EPA Registered Gasoline Additives:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/registrationfuels/web-gas.htm
Alphabetical listing of EPA Registered Diesel Additives:
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/registrationfuels/web-dies.htm
Aftermarket Devices to Improve Fuel Economy or Reduce
Emissions
Any additions or changes to your car’s engine, emission system, fuel
system, or exhaust system have the potential to cause one or more of the
following problems:
If a marketed device has significant benefits, the manufacturer may
submit data to the EPA and apply for EPA testing through the Voluntary
Aftermarket Retrofit Device Evaluation Program. Very few manufacturers
have applied for this program in the past 10 years. Most devices tested
in earlier years had a neutral or negative effect on fuel economy and/or
exhaust emissions. If the manufacturer has submitted the aftermarket
device for testing, you can find the report on the EPA’s findings here:
www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/reports.htm. Unless EPA has an
Aftermarket Retrofit Device Program report, EPA has no information about
the impact of the device or additive on fuel efficiency, the
environment, or the safety of adding this device to your vehicle.
Popular Devices and Their Effects on Fuel Economy and Automotive
Emissions
- Devices That Turn Water Into Fuel
There are many advertisements about using the energy from your
car’s battery to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen
gas which is then burned with your fuel. EPA has received no
credible and complete data showing a positive fuel economy
benefit from these devices.
Installation instructions for some of these devices call for
adjustments that EPA would consider to be tampering. The Clean
Air Act prohibits tampering with your car’s emissions control
system. Tampering violations are punishable by significant
fines (EPA, Office of Enforcement
www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/civil/caa/mobile/vehicleengine-penalty-policy.pdf
(PDF) (33 pp, 1.4M, January 16, 2009).
Any instructions that request you adjust the air/fuel ratio on
your vehicle, or adjust a knob and listen for the engine to
misfire, referred to as feeling vibrations or stuttering, are in
violation of the prohibition against tampering.
- Fuel Line Devices
You may see advertisements for devices that heat, magnetize,
ionize, irradiate, or add metals to your vehicle’s fuel lines
and purport to increase your vehicle’s fuel economy and reduce
exhaust emissions. EPA testing and engineering analysis of such
devices to date has shown no substantive effect on fuel economy
or exhaust emissions. Installation of devices that retard
timing or adjust the air-fuel ratio of the vehicle may be
considered tampering.
- Mixture Enhancers
Several heavily marketed devices claim to increase your
vehicle’s fuel efficiency by creating aerodynamic properties or
turbulence that improves the air-fuel mix prior to combustion.
EPA has received no credible and complete data showing positive
fuel economy benefits from these devices.
Aftermarket Alternative Fuel Conversions
Like fuel additives and aftermarket devices, aftermarket alternative
fuel conversions are sometimes touted as a way for consumers to save
money, improve fuel economy, and reduce pollution. But once again,
consumers need to be wary of such claims. Conversions may make sense in
some cases, but it is very difficult to re-engineer a vehicle to operate
properly on a different fuel than the one for which it was originally
designed. It is especially difficult to ensure that the vehicle will
meet emission standards on the new fuel over the vehicle’s full useful
life. Therefore it is important to educate yourself thoroughly before
altering your car to run on an alternative fuel. Here are some factors
to be aware of if you are considering a conversion:
- Some fuels have a reputation of being inherently “clean” but in
today’s vehicles it is not the fuel alone but rather the
sophisticated integration of engine, fueling, exhaust and
evaporative emission control system designs that determine how clean
a vehicle will be. Vehicle conversion systems must retain a
similarly integrated design logic and functionality in order for
emissions to remain low.
- Gaseous and alcohol fuels are less energy dense than
conventional fuels, so you cannot travel as many miles between
re-fueling, and your fuel efficiency per gallon of fuel will
decrease compared to gasoline or diesel. It is also difficult to
re-optimize an engine for fuel efficiency on a new fuel, so an
alternative fuel conversion may be less efficient than an engine
that was designed to run an alternative fuel in its original design.
Understanding these issues is critical to accurately compare the
costs of running your car on its original fuel and the costs of
running your car on a new fuel with an aftermarket fuel conversion.
- Be sure to check whether your vehicle’s manufacturer will
continue to honor the warranty after conversion.
In order to ensure that your vehicle will meet the same emission
standards that the original vehicle was required to meet, EPA has
established regulations that must be followed to avoid violating the
federal prohibition against tampering (EPA, Office of Enforcement
www.epa.gov/
compliance/resources/policies/civil/caa/mobile/vehicleengine-penalty-policy.pdf
(PDF) (33 pp, 1.4M, January 16, 2009)
. If the conversion manufacturer has not followed EPA regulations and
guidelines, you may be violating the tampering prohibition, which
carries a significant fine, and you may be increasing the release of
harmful exhaust and evaporative emissions into the environment.
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