Latest Version of MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES)
MOVES5: Latest Version of Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator
EPA's MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator is an emission modeling system that estimates emissions for mobile sources at the national, county, and project level for criteria air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and air toxics.
On this page:
How to Cite MOVES?
To cite MOVES5 in general:
USEPA (2024) Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator: MOVES5. Office of Transportation and Air Quality. US Environmental Protection Agency. Ann Arbor, MI. November 2024.
To cite the latest MOVES version:
Go to the GitHub site and click on “Cite this repository” on the About menu.
MOVES5 Webinars:
- MOVES5 Introduction and Overview (pdf) , describes changes between MOVES4 and MOVES5, guidance for using MOVES5, and tools to manage user inputs.
Background on MOVES5
MOVES5 is now the latest official version of MOVES and has been updated and improved from the previous version by:
- Accounting for EPA’s Light- and Medium-Duty Multi-Pollutant Rule with higher projected electric vehicle fractions and more stringent standards for carbon dioxide, particulate matter, non-methane organic gases and oxides of nitrogen.
- Accounting for EPA’s Heavy-Duty Greenhouse Gas Emissions-Phase 3 Rule with higher projected EV fractions and updated energy consumption estimates for heavy-duty EVs.
- Incorporating new data on light-duty and heavy-duty brake wear emissions.
- Expanding detailed calculations for a given analysis year to vehicles up to 40 years old, instead of 30.
- Updating onroad and nonroad fuel properties for calendar year 2021 and later.
- Updating historical and forecast default vehicle miles travelled, vehicle populations, age distributions, and fuel distributions.
These updates ensure that MOVES5 is a state-of the-science model for estimating emissions from on-road vehicles and other categories of nonroad equipment.
- EPA Releases MOVES5 Mobile Source Emissions Model: Questions and Answers (pdf) highlights the difference between MOVES5 and earlier versions of MOVES.
- Overview of EPA’s MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES5) (pdf) provides a high-level overview of MOVES5, including references to technical documentation and other MOVES information.
- Onroad and nonroad technical reports that explain MOVES inputs, including changes for MOVES5 are available.
Guidance
- Federal Register Notice of Availability: Official Release of MOVES5 Motor Vehicle Emissions Model for Emissions Inventories for SIPs and Transportation Conformity (pdf) (257 KB, published December 11, 2024) This notice announced the use of MOVES5 for official SIP development and transportation conformity purposes in states other than California.
- MOVES5 Policy Guidance: Use of MOVES for State Implementation Plan Development, Transportation Conformity, General Conformity and Other Purposes (pdf) This guidance describes how and when to use MOVES5 for SIP development, transportation conformity, general conformity, and other purposes in states other than California.
- MOVES5 Technical Guidance: Using MOVES to Prepare Emission Inventories for State Implementation Plans and Transportation Conformity (pdf)
- See State and Local Transportation Resources for further information on transportation conformity and SIPs, and other MOVES guidance at the following links:
- SIP Policy and Technical Guidance (includes MOVES guidance on estimating emission reductions from control measures; using MOVES for VMT offset demonstrations)
- Transportation Conformity Policy and Technical Guidance (includes MOVES guidance on estimating emission reductions from control measures)
- Project-level Conformity and Hot-spot Analysis (PM and CO hot-spot guidance, including use of MOVES at Project Scale)
- I/M Policy and Technical Guidance (e.g., Performance Standard Modeling using MOVES)
- Port Emissions Inventory Guidance (includes use of MOVES for some sectors)
- Estimating Emission Reductions from Travel Efficiency Strategies (e.g., transit, pricing, bike and pedestrian programs - see Travel Efficiency Assessment Method User Guide)
- Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions (MOVES Greenhouse Gas Guidance)
Downloading MOVES5
-
MOVES5.0.0 (exe)
: After downloading the setup file, runMOVES5.0.0-Setup-20241218.exe and follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.
- MOVES5 Update Log provides a summary of updates to MOVES5.
MOVES User Materials
- MOVES5 does not have a stand-alone user guide. User help information is integrated into the model itself; also refer to the MOVES5 Technical Guidance: Using MOVES to Prepare Emission Inventories for State Implementation Plans and Transportation Conformity (pdf)
- MOVES Training provides detailed information on running MOVES.
- The MOVES GitHub site provides access to the MOVES source code and additional documentation, including “Cheat Sheets” that are useful for decoding MOVES inputs and outputs.
- Overview of EPA’s MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES5) (pdf) provides detailed references to technical documentation and other MOVES information.