Environmental Performance
Whether you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint, save money or contribute less to that nasty smog, knowing the environmental performance of your vehicle and the vehicles you are shopping for will help you meet your goals. Now a new tool, the Environmental Performance Label (EP Label), makes it very easy to compare the efficiency and environmental impact between vehicles.
Environmental Performance Label
The EP Label is your tool to finding the cleanest most efficient cars available. This EP Label is required on all new cars sold in California that are manufactured after January 1, 2009. Look for the EP Label on a car's driver's side window or incorporated into the manufacturer's window sticker.
The EP Label allows you to easily determine the cleanest car for your family by providing two scores – a Global Warming Score and a Smog Score. Each score is from 1 to 10 with the cleanest and most efficient cars receiving the highest scores. These scores compare emissions between all vehicle classes and sizes with the average new car scoring a 5 on both scales.
Global Warming Score
If you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint or just save money at the pump, buy a car with a high Global Warming Score.
The Global Warming Score is based on the sum of a vehicle's greenhouse gas emissions which are identified as the CO2-equivalent value. Vehicles with higher Global Warming Scores tend to burn less fuel, saving you money and reducing your carbon footprint. Learn More >
Smog Score
If you are tired of that nasty smog, buying a car with a high Smog Score will help you make a difference now. There have been many advancements in clean vehicle technologies, making even gasoline cars significantly cleaner than they have ever been. But, even new vehicles vary tremendously in how much they pollute, and even within the same make and model. So, learn about the Smog Score and remember to think clean and buy cars with higher scores. Learn More >
Additional Resources
- View the cleanest cars
- Watch the EP Label Video
- Introduction to Advanced Technology Vehicles guide
- Air Resources Board - Environmental Performance Label topic page
- Air Resources Board – Environmental Performance Label fact sheet (English)
- Air Resources Board – Environmental Performance Label fact sheet (Spanish )