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This project involved adapting a Geo Metro to run on natural gas using fuel-injection technology. The stock electronic control unit and catalytic converter were used. The subcompact vehicle was equipped with a light-weight storage tank, a single-stage regulator, and a natural gas fuel injector which replaced the gasoline injector in the throttle body. The vehicle was tested for emissions using the U.S. Federal Test Procedure. The results indicate that we are close to meeting our objectives of developing a low-cost, environmentally friendly vehicle that runs on natural gas and that has a good driving range. The combined-cycle driving range was 498 km (309 mi). Tailpipe emissions at 10,000 km (6,200 mi) are presented for carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and non-methane hydrocarbons. In addition, data are presented on non-methane organic gas emissions based on hydrocarbon speciation tests, maximum incremental reactivities, and reactivity adjustment factors.

Automotive exhaust emissions were studied from the standpoint of urban traffic conditions. Auto traffic data were obtained in Tokyo, Japan, using a test car monitored for vehicle speed and other pertinent data. Eleven different kinds of traffic patterns in Tokyo were identified which seemed to most closely represent urban driving conditions. Forty-eight motor vehicles, consisting of 1971 to 1976 model year passenger cars, vans and trucks (gasoline and diesel), were driven on a chassis dynamometer to measure emissions under the eleven patterns mentioned above. The characteristics of NOx, HC and CO emissions and fuel consumption by vehicle type and model year were obtained and correlated with vehicle speeds. By combining these analyses of emissions as a function of vehicle speed with estimated present and expected future traffic data in Tokyo, the total emissions and fuel consumption by vehicles in the Tokyo metropolitan area were estimated.