HOV lane

Following in the footsteps of the Chevrolet Volt and the Honda Civic Natural Gas, the 105-MPGe 2012 Ford Focus Electric has been granted HOV lane access in California by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB not only gave the upcoming all-electric vehicle the ability to let people drive ...

The Chevy Volt may be able to travel about 40 miles without emitting a gram of CO2, but the car isn't clean enough to qualify for High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access in California. Make that wasn't clean enough. Today, GM announced that California dealers are now taking orders for an ...

The vehicles are no longer novel, their yellow stickers have faded from years of exposure to the sun and, after six years of enjoying the privilege, it's now time for California's hybrid owners to suffer with the rest of us in the state's traffic-clogged non-High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. Starting ...

One of the persistent challenges of deploying plug-in vehicles has always been metrics: how to evaluate, regulate, incentivize and talk about them to the general public. It's complicated enough transitioning consumers from thinking about miles per gallon to miles per kilowatt hour, particularly ...

Prospective owners of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf shouldn't get too excited about driving in California carpool lanes as soon as they take delivery. Late Tuesday night California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 535 into law, extending access to the high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes ...

Recently California passed a rule that extended access to the state's carpool lanes for zero and ultra low emission vehicles until 2015. Part of that regulation update included the phase-out of access ...

Drivers in Maryland now have two new reasons to opt for a plug-in electric vehicle the next time go new car shopping. Governor Martin O'Malley (above) has reportedly signed bills this week that provide for car pool lane access for plug-in vehicles and a new $2,000 tax break. The High Occupancy ...

We're coming to the end of the time when it makes sense (?) to ride around with a mannequin dressed as Gandalf. Yes, carpool lane access for some hybrid drivers in California will end this year. The deadline gives us a chance to look back and consider what the so-called "Prius perks" got us. ...

A few years ago, a little yellow sticker on your ride was worth about $4,000 on the used car market. These "Clean Air Vehicle" stickers allow clean cars with just one occupant into the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in California and can save some commuters up to two hours a day. Wow. If time ...

Even with low gas prices, there is still a side benefit to burning less gas when you carpool: driving in the HOV lane. In some cities, these high-occupancy vehicle lanes are restricted to vehicles with at least two or three people and, sometimes, to hybrid vehicles as well (well, some hybrids, ...