building better cars, pickups & SUVs

Conventional gasoline-powered vehicles emit high levels of air pollutants and global warming gases, but they can be made a lot cleaner. Better tailpipe technologies, for example, could increase fuel economy while reducing hazardous air pollutants, carbon dioxide emissions, and our dependence on oil. Unfortunately, despite the fact that these technologies are already available and affordable, automakers are not rushing to use them.

UCS is especially concerned with the explosion in sales of light trucks such as sport utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, and pickups. SUVs and minivans, which constitute half of all new vehicle sales, are generally purchased to serve as passenger vehicles, yet current federal standards allow SUVs and minivans to emit more pollution and consume more gasoline than cars.

UCS analyzes the environmental impact of motor vehicles, the technologies that can reduce this impact, and the policies that could promote these technologies. To accomplish our goal of reducing tailpipe emissions, global warming pollution, and U.S. oil dependence, we advocate the development and use of clean, advanced vehicles in place of conventional vehicles.