Fuel specifications.

  1. Law
  2. CFR 40
  3. Protection of Environment
  4. Environmental Protection Agency
  5. Air Programs
  6. Control of Emissions from New and In-Use Highway Vehicles and Engines
  7. Emission Regulations for 1977 and Later Model Year New Light-Duty Vehicles and New Light-Duty Trucks and New Otto-Cycle Complete Heavy-Duty Vehicles; Test Procedures
  8. Fuel specifications.

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§ 86.113-04 Fuel specifications.

This section includes text that specifies requirements that differ from § 86.113-94. Where a paragraph in § 86.113-94 is identical and applicable to this section, this will be indicated by specifying the corresponding paragraph and the statement “[Reserved]. For guidance see § 86.113-94.”.

(a) Gasoline fuel.

(1) Gasoline meeting the following specifications, or substantially equivalent specifications approved by the Administrator, must be used for exhaust and evaporative testing:

Expand Table

Table 1 to § 86.113-04 - Test Fuel Specifications for Gasoline Without Ethanol

Item Regular Reference procedure 1
Research octane, Minimum 2 93 ASTM D2699
Octane sensitivity 2 7.5 ASTM D2700
Distillation Range ( °F):
Evaporated initial boiling point 3 75-95 ASTM D86
10% evaporated 120-135
50% evaporated 200-230
90% evaporated 300-325
Evaporated final boiling point 415 Maximum
Total Aromatic Hydrocarbon (vol %) 35% Maximum ASTM D1319 or ASTM D5769
Olefins (vol %) 4 10% Maximum ASTM D1319 or ASTM D6550
Lead, g/gallon (g/liter), Maximum 0.050 (0.013) ASTM D3237
Phosphorous, g/gallon (g/liter), Maximum 0.005 (0.0013) ASTM D3231
Total sulfur, wt. % 5 0.0015-0.008 ASTM D2622
Dry Vapor Pressure Equivalent (DVPE), kPa (psi) 6 60.0-63.4 (8.7-9.2) ASTM D5191

1 Incorporated by reference, see § 86.1.

2 Octane specifications are optional for manufacturer testing.

3 For testing at altitudes above 1,219 m (4,000 feet), the specified range is 75-105 °F.

4 ASTM D6550 prescribes measurement of olefin concentration in mass %. Multiply this result by 0.857 and round to the first decimal place to determine the olefin concentration in volume %.

5 Sulfur concentration will not exceed 0.0045 weight percent for EPA testing.

6 For testing unrelated to evaporative emission control, the specified range is 54.8-63.7 kPa (8.0-9.2 psi). For testing at altitudes above 1,219 m (4,000 feet), the specified range is 52.0-55.4 kPa (7.6-8.0 psi). Calculate dry vapor pressure equivalent, DVPE, based on the measured total vapor pressure, pT, using the following equation: DVPE (kPa) = 0.956 · pT−2.39 (or DVPE (psi) = 0.956 · pT−0.347). DVPE is intended to be equivalent to Reid Vapor Pressure using a different test method.

(2) Manufacturers may use California test fuels, as follows:

(i) For model year 2014 and earlier vehicles certified for 50-state sale, manufacturers may perform exhaust emission tests using California Phase 2 gasoline as specified in Chapter 4 of the California Regulatory Requirements Applicable to the National Low Emission Vehicle Program, October 1996 (incorporated by reference in § 86.1). However, the Administrator may use or require the use of test fuel meeting the specifications in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for confirmatory testing, selective enforcement auditing and in-use testing.

(ii) For model year 2015 and later, manufacturers may certify 50-state Tier 2 vehicles based on testing used to meet California's LEV III standards, subject to the following provisions:

(A) Manufacturers may perform exhaust and evaporative emission tests using California Phase 2 gasoline or California LEV III gasoline. The Administrator may use or require the use of test fuel meeting the specifications in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for confirmatory testing, selective enforcement auditing and in-use testing.

(B) All evaporative testing with California fuel must be conducted with temperatures meeting the specifications adopted by the California Air Resources Board.

(C) The vehicles must also meet exhaust and evaporative emission standards at high-altitude conditions as specified in §§ 86.1811-17 and 86.1813-17, except that testing is based on the fuel specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

(D) The vehicle must meet the applicable cold temperature standards using test fuel specified for cold temperature testing in § 86.213.

(3)

(i) Unless otherwise approved by the Administrator, gasoline representative of commercial gasoline that will be generally available through retail outlets must be used in service accumulation. Unless otherwise approved by the Administrator, where the vehicle is to be used for evaporative emission durability demonstration, such fuel must contain ethanol as required by § 86.1824-08(f)(1).

(ii) Unless otherwise approved by the Administrator, the octane rating of the gasoline used must be no higher than 1.0 Retail octane number above the lowest octane rating that meets the fuel grade the manufacturer will recommend to the ultimate purchaser for the relevant production vehicles. If the manufacturer recommends a Retail octane number rather than a fuel grade, then the octane rating of the service accumulation gasoline can be no higher than 1.0 Retail octane number above the recommended Retail octane number. The service accumulation gasoline must also have a minimum sensitivity of 7.5 octane numbers, where sensitivity is defined as the Research octane number minus the Motor octane number.

(iii) The Reid Vapor Pressure of the gasoline used must be characteristic of the motor fuel used during the season in which the service accumulation takes place.

(4) The specification range of the gasoline to be used under this paragraph (a) must be reported in accordance with §§ 86.094-21(b)(3) and 86.1844-01.

(b)-(g) [Reserved]. For guidance see § 86.113-94.

[65 FR 6848, Feb. 10, 2000, as amended at 75 FR 25678, May 7, 2010; 79 FR 23693, Apr. 28, 2014; 86 FR 34365, June 29, 2021]


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