U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell tours EPA’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor
ANN ARBOR, MI — Beyond a set of security gates along Plymouth Road is an expansive federal facility many motorists have passed by but few have ever seen inside.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor is a one-of-a-kind lab that plays a key role in regulating the auto industry when it comes to vehicle performance and emission standards.
MLive/The Ann Arbor News was granted a rare tour of the lab this past week, joining U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and several EPA officials from Ann Arbor and Chicago, including Regional Administrator Debra Shore.
David Haugen, director of the Testing and Advanced Technology Division at the NVFEL, speaks with guests including U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2565 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
“The work they do here is really important,” Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, said of the lab’s roughly 140 workers, who include highly trained professionals with backgrounds in engineering, chemistry, toxicology, law and economics.
The long hallways and various rooms throughout the complex total over 220,000 square feet, including areas resembling an auto repair shop, vehicle warehouse and even an indoor gas station with several pumps. In some test areas, hoses are clamped to the tailpipes of cars and trucks and fed through high-tech instruments that give digital performance readouts on computer screens in adjacent control rooms.
On specially engineered rollers, vehicles spin their wheels in place as if running on a treadmill to simulate driving on roads and highways, while some vehicles are taken outside the lab to go through tests that involve driving in the real world. Vehicles are tested in various control conditions, including at freezing temperatures to simulate winter driving.
Senior engineer Scott Ludlam positions a monitor for Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore as she drives a test car on a dynamometer to measure emissions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2565 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
Cars and trucks from General Motors, Ford and other automakers can be found parked throughout the lab. Some come in fresh off the assembly line and, with a bit of mystery and intrigue, some are products that have yet to hit the market and come cloaked in camouflage.
For the fuel-testing part of the operation, various machines are used to measure properties such as lead, sulfur and octane levels, with thousands of samples being brought into the lab for testing annually to ensure they meet federal standards.
The Ann Arbor lab, which dates back the 1970s, is the only federal facility like it in the country, certifying when automakers make claims about vehicle performance, energy efficiency and fuel economy, including miles-per-gallon ratings for gas vehicles and battery ranges for electric vehicles, they’re accurate and comply with federal standards. On a number of occasions, the lab’s audits have resulted in automakers having to revise claims.
A test car is driven on a dynamometer to measure emissions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2565 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
“Our goal is to help everybody comply with the standards,” said David Haugen, director of the EPA’s testing and advanced technology division.
Data from the lab also is sent to the IRS for purposes of imposing gas-guzzler taxes on vehicles with poor fuel economy.
The lab’s work supports federal emission standards for motor vehicles, engines and fuels, and that extends beyond cars and trucks to other fuel-burning products such as chainsaws, push mowers and even snowmobiles and motorcycles.
An engine is tested at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2565 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
Some of the engine tests and other research being done in the lab will help determine the next round of federal regulations in 2027 and beyond and help further move the needle on reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
With goals to have EVs account for 50% of U.S. automobile sales by 2030 and continuing to grow in share after that, the lab’s work also is gradually shifting more to regulations and certifications around EVs. The range stats now shown on EV labels at dealerships throughout the country are all audited and certified by the Ann Arbor EPA lab.
Regulations and certifications in general have taken up more of the lab’s time over the years, resulting in scaling back the research and development work that used to be more of a focus in terms of designing and developing new technologies to reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency, though the lab still holds over 60 patents on technologies it has developed.
Research equipment covers a road test vehicle at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2565 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
The EPA considers the lab an integral part of the U.S. Office of Transportation and Air Quality, whose staff is divided between Ann Arbor and EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Counting an EPA office building adjacent to the Ann Arbor lab, there are over 200 workers at the Plymouth Road location. That includes EPA emergency responders who were relocated from a Grosse Ile research facility as part of consolidation and cutback measures under President Donald Trump’s administration, a move Dingell opposed a few years ago.
Dingell is now enthusiastic about President Joe Biden’s agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act recently signed into law by Biden that includes key provisions based on legislation Dingell authored to help fuel the transition to EVs in the U.S. and provide funding for carbon emission reductions. It could mean more funding for the Ann Arbor EPA lab, Dingell said.
A test car is driven on a dynamometer to measure emissions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, 2565 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com
With climate change being very real and automotive manufacturing still one of the backbones of the Michigan economy, Dingell said, the lab is a critical part of making fuel-efficient cars and transitioning to an EV economy.
“It’s really a jewel,” she said, adding the lab is not only critical to protecting the environment, but also drives economic development by attracting other automotive technology companies to the Ann Arbor area.
“I think people don’t understand how technical some of these issues are, why it matters,” she said. “I think the people that work at this EPA lab are incredible. They have incredible knowledge, they know what they’re doing, and they’re working every day to protect all of us and to help protect the environment and reduce global warming. At the same time, as you build energy-efficient vehicles, you’re also trying to save money for people at the pump that still have internal combustion engines.”
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