Here's a beauracratic boondoggle beyond belief: the 2004 Toyota Prius can't pass the Georgia emissions test.
The fault lies not in what comes out of the tailpipe, but an outdated test system. Thanks to the hybrid engine shutting off when the car is idling, the test computer read the test as a failure. Every time. What really hurts is the $25 that Prius driver have to pay just to get a "failed" certificate, even though there is no way the car can pass.
You know what's really troubling about this story? It's just an early preview of what green car drivers will have to deal with time and time again in the next few years (decades?) with new and cleaner vehicles being figured into the entrenched system of road taxes, emissions tests, and so on. It's not like the State of Georgia didn't know that the 2004 Prius models would need to start being tested this year. The video says the State hopes to have the system reconfigured in time for the 2005 model year Priuses to roll into testing centers. Why couldn't they have had it ready for this year? Welcome to the future of driving smarter.
[Source: CNN via Autoblog]
The fault lies not in what comes out of the tailpipe, but an outdated test system. Thanks to the hybrid engine shutting off when the car is idling, the test computer read the test as a failure. Every time. What really hurts is the $25 that Prius driver have to pay just to get a "failed" certificate, even though there is no way the car can pass.
You know what's really troubling about this story? It's just an early preview of what green car drivers will have to deal with time and time again in the next few years (decades?) with new and cleaner vehicles being figured into the entrenched system of road taxes, emissions tests, and so on. It's not like the State of Georgia didn't know that the 2004 Prius models would need to start being tested this year. The video says the State hopes to have the system reconfigured in time for the 2005 model year Priuses to roll into testing centers. Why couldn't they have had it ready for this year? Welcome to the future of driving smarter.
[Source: CNN via Autoblog]
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