Car: EPA 🇺🇸
Calculate car emissions with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methodology, using the vehicle's manufacturer, model, model year, fuel type, size class and engine data.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees the environmental impact of many industrial sectors, and cars stand out in transport because of their reach and emissions. The EPA's methodology estimates and monitors CO₂ emissions from cars. It considers vehicle design, fuel type, driving conditions and emission-control technology, and aims both to measure emissions and to encourage cleaner, more efficient car technology through policy and regulation.
Sample requests
Send a route-based quote with origin and destination (or an explicit distance_in_km), then repeat the call with audit set to true once the booking is final. If you don't know the distance, send number_of_days instead.
{
"expand": ["items"],
"items": [{
"audit": false,
"type": "car",
"external_reference": "test_3",
"origin": "Menton, France",
"destination": "Paris, France",
"manufacturer": "mercedes_benz",
"model": "500sel",
"model_year": 1985,
"fuel_type": "regular_gasoline",
"epa_vehicle_size_class": "midsize_cars",
"specific_transmission": "automatic_4_spd",
"engine_displacement_in_liters": 5.0,
"epa_model_type_index": 27914,
"engine_cylinders": 8,
"methodology": "US-EPA"
}]
}audit_for is optional
Pass the ID of an auditable entity when you calculate on behalf of that entity. Otherwise, leave it out.
Distance precedence
distance_in_km takes priority over both origin/destination and number_of_days. The order is distance_in_km > origin/destination > number_of_days.
Defaults
When a field is missing, SQUAKE fills it in before calculating.
| Field | Default | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
fuel_type | regular_gasoline | No fuel_type is sent |
How it's calculated
Distance from trip duration
When the trip distance is unknown, SQUAKE estimates it from number_of_days.
number_of_days × 60Send the real distance when you can
The actual distance_in_km gives the most accurate result. number_of_days is a convenience fallback and a coarse approximation.
Request fields
Look up valid vehicle values in the Car: US-EPA database.
typestringrequiredcar
methodologystringrequiredUS-EPA
originstringSQUAKE tries to resolve origin and destination in any format. Ideally, use the postal standard for addresses, IATA/ICAO codes for airports (MUC), UN/LOCODE for trade and transport locations (DEHAM), or latitude and longitude (+40.712,-74.006).
destinationstringSame formats and rules as origin.
distance_in_kmnumberOverrides origin/destination resolution and number_of_days.
number_of_daysintegerAt least 1. Use it when the trip distance is unknown: SQUAKE estimates the distance as number_of_days * 60. It's the fallback after distance_in_km and origin/destination.
fuel_typeenumOne of electricity, premium_gasoline, regular_gasoline, diesel, natural_gas, midgrade_gasoline, propane. Defaults to regular_gasoline.
manufacturerstringSee the database.
modelstringSee the database.
model_yearintegerSee the database.
countrystringISO 3166-1 alpha-2 or alpha-3 code: 2 to 3 uppercase letters (^[A-Z]{2,3}$).
electric_energy_consumption_in_kwnumberSee the database.
engine_capacity_in_cubic_cmnumberSee the database.
engine_cylindersintegerSee the database.
epa_model_type_indexintegerSee the database.
engine_displacement_in_litersnumberSee the database.
specific_transmissionstringSee the database.
epa_vehicle_size_classstringThe car size division defined by US-EPA. See the database.
external_referencestringYour identifier for the item, up to 128 characters, so you can match results to requests. SQUAKE doesn't guarantee the order of items.
auditbooleanSet to true to create immutable audit records for finalised calculations. Must be enabled for your account.
POST /v2/calculations in the API referenceSample response
{
"carbon_quantity": 345527,
"carbon_unit": "gram",
"items": [{
"carbon_quantity": 345527,
"carbon_unit": "gram",
"external_reference": "test_3",
"type": "car",
"methodology": "US-EPA",
"distance": 876.0,
"distance_unit": "kilometer"
}]
}Bibliography
- FuelEconomy.gov Web Services (n.d.). FuelEconomy. fueleconomy.gov/feg/ws.
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle (n.d.). United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger vehicle#:~:text=typical%20passenger%20vehicle%3F-,A%20typical%20passenger%20vehicle%20emits%20about%204.6%20metric%20tons%20of,around%2011%2C500%20miles%20per%20year
- Tiseo, I. (2021, December 14). Passenger car carbon dioxide emissions worldwide 2010-2020. statista.com.
- Emission Factors for Greenhouse Gas Inventories (2025, Jan). EPA. epa.gov.