Information about Family Naming Conventions for Vehicles and Engines
Guidance Letter
- Consolidation of EPA Standardized Naming Conventions
(8 pp, 337 K, August 31, 2015, About PDF)
- Overview
- Step 1. Find the applicable model year code
- Step 2: Determine your manufacturer code
- Step 3: Find your industry sector
Overview
A family is the basic unit that EPA uses to identify a group of vehicles or engines for certification and compliance purposes.
- Engine family;
- Test group;
- Vehicle family;
- Durability group; and
- Evaporative and/or permeation and/or refueling family.
A manufacturer should apply for new certificates and pay the appropriate certification fees for each family name that it intends to produce for sale in the United States.
A family name is a 12 character code that identifies all parts of that particular engine.
The typical naming convention is shown below, although some sectors have a slight variation.
* For dual or variable displacement families, enter the maximum displacement. If the displacement is given in liters, the decimal point count as a digit. In all cases, the displacement will be read in liters if a decimal point is included and it will be read in cubic inches or cubic centimeters if there is no decimal point.
Follow these steps to create your family name:
STEP 1: Find the applicable model year code.
From the table below, find the code for Position 1 of your family name.
| Code | Model Year |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2001 |
| 2 | 2002 |
| 3 | 2003 |
| 4 | 2004 |
| 5 | 2005 |
| 6 | 2006 |
| 7 | 2007 |
| 8 | 2008 |
| 9 | 2009 |
| A | 2010 |
| Code | Model Year |
|---|---|
| B | 2011 |
| C | 2012 |
| D | 2013 |
| E | 2014 |
| F | 2015 |
| G | 2016 |
| H | 2017 |
| J | 2018 |
| K | 2019 |
| L | 2020 |
| Code | Model Year |
|---|---|
| M | 2021 |
| N | 2022 |
| P | 2023 |
| R | 2024 |
| S | 2025 |
| T | 2026 |
| V | 2027 |
| W | 2028 |
| X | 2029 |
| Y | 2030 |
| Code | Model Year |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2031 |
| 2 | 2032 |
| 3 | 2033 |
| 4 | 2034 |
| 5 | 2035 |
| 6 | 2036 |
| 7 | 2037 |
| 8 | 2038 |
| 9 | 2039 |
Help
STEP 3: Find your industry sector.
Click on your industry sector to view specific instructions for determining Positions 5-12 of your family name.
* This also includes heavy-duty highway vehicles at or below 14,000 pounds GVWR that are not tested on a chassis-dynamometer for certification under 40 CFR Part 1037 (i.e., certified to the requirements and standards of §1037.105, per §1037.104(f)).