Tech Briefs
Nissan's super-ultra-low emissions vehicle

Nissan will offer in California an optional gasoline-powered SULEV version of the 2000 Sentra.

Nissan North America (NNA) will unveil a 1.8-L version of the 2000 Sentra compact sedan at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January. Nissan hopes that by late fall it will have received California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification for the all-new Sentra as the world's first gasoline-fueled, super-ultra-low-emissions vehicle (SULEV).

The SULEV version of the Sentra is expected to emit about one-fourth of the unburned hydrocarbon and one-tenth of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions of the cleanest gasoline-powered car sold now in California. Unburned hydrocarbons and NOx, in combination with sunlight, result in a complex set of chemical reactions that form smog.

Nissan's strongest claim is that the SULEV Sentra will eliminate evaporative emissions, or the emission of raw hydrocarbon gasoline vapors given off from a vehicle's fuel system. Nissan would be the first automaker to be certified to CARB's zero evaporative emission standard. "A person will be able to drive this new Sentra 10 miles to work, return home, and have the vehicle emit less vapors than a typical new car parked in a driveway all day with its engine shut off," said Robert S. Strassburger, NNA Director for Government and Technical Affairs.

"This vehicle will be available in the California market, and will be the cleanest gasoline-powered passenger vehicle for sale in that environmentally conscious state," said Jason Vines, NNA Vice President for External Affairs. "If all U.S. gasoline supplies met California's strict fuel sulfur limits, it would help clear the way for vehicles like the SULEV version of the Sentra and those powered by direct-injection to be offered nationwide."

Production of the SULEV Sentra is scheduled to begin next February. Full details and specifications about the engine technology will be provided once Nissan has obtained final CARB certification.