TERMS & CONDITIONS

Terms & Conditions

Your use of our ECO-INNOVATIONS, LLC Internet sites (“ECO-INNOVATIONS” or “AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP”) that post a link to these Terms & Conditions or any of the products or services offered on our sites (the "Service", collectively “Services”) are subject to these Terms & Conditions. We may modify these Terms & Conditions at any time without notice to you by posting revised Terms & Conditions on our site. Your use of our sites constitutes your binding acceptance of these Terms & Conditions, including any modifications that we make.

Some of the Services may be subject to additional posted conditions. Your use of those Services is subject to those conditions, which are incorporated into these Terms & Conditions by reference. In the event of an inconsistency between these Terms & Conditions and any additional posted conditions, the provisions of the additional conditions shall control.

We have the right, but not the obligation, to take any of the following actions in our sole discretion at any time and for any reason without giving you any prior notice:

1. Restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to all or any part of our Services;

2. Change, suspend, or discontinue all or any part of our Services;

3. Refuse, move, or remove any material that you submit to our site for any reason;

4. Refuse, move, or remove any content that is available on our site;

5. Deactivate or delete your accounts and all related information and files in your account;

6. Establish general practices and limits concerning use of our site.

You agree that we will not be liable to you or any third party for taking any of these actions.

You understand and agree that our Services may include communications such as service announcements and administrative messages from us or from our partners and that these communications are considered part of the Services. You understand that our Services may include advertisements. You also understand that by submitting your Zip Code, you are agreeing to participate in our Services and will not hold AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP liable for use of your Zip Code information.

Content on ECO-INNOVATIONS’ Sites

Our sites include a combination of content that we create, that our partners create, and that our users create. All materials published on our site, including, but not limited to, written content, awards, photographs, graphics, logos, illustrations and marks are protected by our copyrights or trademarks; those of our partners; or those of other parties with use under fair use doctrine. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or in any way exploit any of the materials or content on our site in whole or in part.

You are solely responsible for all materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, that you upload, post, e-mail, transmit, or otherwise make available on our site ("Your Content"). You certify that you own all intellectual property rights in Your Content. You hereby grant us, our affiliates, and our partners a worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free, nonexclusive, sublicensable license to use, reproduce, create derivative works of, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, transfer, transmit, distribute, and publish Your Content and subsequent versions of Your Content for the purposes of (i) displaying Your Content on our site, (ii) distributing Your Content, either electronically or via other media, to users seeking to download or otherwise acquire it, and/or (iii) storing Your Content in a remote database accessible by end users, for a charge. This license shall apply to the distribution and the storage of Your Content in any form, medium, or technology now known or later developed.

Our site contains content that we create as well as content provided by third parties for educational purposes only. We do our best to present reliable and accurate information, however we cannot and do not guarantee the validity of the information presented on our site. By adhering to these Terms & Conditions, you acknowledge that AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP makes no warranty that it will continue to operate our site(s) or offer the content in its current form; that our site(s) or the content will be accessible with interruption; that our site(s) or the content will meet your requirements or expectations, or that the content or any other material on our site(s) or the services that makes the site available are free from errors, defects, design flaws or omissions or are completely secure. This content includes but is not limited to product reviews, product descriptions, specifications, pricing, availability, and performance. We do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of the content on our site, and you may not rely on any of this content.

You may be exposed to content that you find objectionable or that is inaccurate, and you bear all risks associated with using that content. We have the right, but not the obligation, to remove any content that may, in our sole discretion, violate these Terms & Conditions or that is otherwise objectionable.

The information on AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP provides an overview of incentives and other policies, but it should not be used as the only source of information when making purchasing decisions, investment decisions, tax decisions or other binding agreements.

Third-party Site, Products, and Services

Our sites contain links to other Internet sites and documents owned by third parties. Your use of each of those sites and those documents is subject to the conditions, if any, that each of those sites have posted. We have no control over sites that are not ours, and we are not responsible for any changes to or content on them. Our inclusion on our site of any third-party content or a link to a third-party site is not an endorsement of that content or third-party site.

We do not sell or resell any of the products that we review, list, or advertise on our site, and we disclaim any responsibility for or liability related to them. Your correspondence or related activities with third parties, including payment transactions and goods-delivery transactions, are solely between you and that third party. You agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any of your transactions with third parties. Any questions, complaints, or claims related to any product or service should be directed to the appropriate vendor.

Your Conduct on Our Site

If we request registration information from you, you will provide us with true, accurate, current, and complete information. You will promptly update your registration to keep it accurate, current, and complete. If we issue you a password, you may not reveal it to anyone else. You may not use anyone else's password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your accounts and passwords. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your passwords or accounts or any other breach of security. You also agree to exit from your accounts at the end of each session. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that may result if you fail to comply with these requirements.

The technology and the software underlying our site and the related Services are property of AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP. You agree not to copy, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, assign, distribute, reverse engineer, grant a security interest in, or otherwise transfer any right to the technology or software underlying our site or the related Services of the site. You agree not to modify the software underlying our site in any manner or form or to use modified versions of such software, including (without limitation) for the purpose of obtaining unauthorized access to our site.

Without limiting the foregoing, you agree that you will not use our site to take any of the following actions:

1.Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten, or otherwise violate the legal right of others;

2.Publish, post, upload, e-mail, distribute, or disseminate (collectively, "Transmit") any inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, or unlawful content;

3.Transmit files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage or adversely affect the operation of another person's computer, our site, any software or hardware, or telecommunications equipment;

4.Advertise or offer to sell any goods or services for any commercial purpose unless you have our written consent to do so;

5.Transmit surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, spam, unsolicited advertising or promotional materials, or chain letters;

6.Download any file that you know or reasonably should know cannot be legally obtained in such manner;

7.Falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or the source of software or other material;

8.Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying any public area within our site;

9.Collect or store personal information about other end users;

10.Interfere with or disrupt our site, servers, or networks;

11.Impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP representative, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

12.Forge headers or manipulate identifiers or other data in order to disguise the origin of any content transmitted through our site or to manipulate your presence on our site;

13.Take any action that imposes an unreasonably or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;

14.Engage in any illegal activities.

Unauthorized access to our site is a breach of these Terms & Conditions and a violation of the law. You agree not to access our site by any means other than through the interface that is provided by AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP for use in accessing our site. You agree not to use any automated means, including, without limitation, agents, robots, scripts, or spiders, to access, monitor, or copy any part of our site, except those automated means that we have approved in advance and in writing.

Use of our site is subject to existing laws and legal process. Nothing contained in these Terms & Conditions shall limit our right to comply with governmental, court, and law-enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of our site.

Requests to Remove Certain Content from ECO-INNOVATIONS’ Sites

If you believe that content you own has been copied and made accessible in a manner that violates your intellectual property rights, please contact us and we will immediately address the issue.

Indemnification

You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold AUTOMOTIVE SCIENCE GROUP and all of our officers, directors, owners, employees, agents, information providers, affiliates, partners, and licensors (collectively, "ECO-INNOVATIONS’ Parties") harmless from and against any and all liability, losses, costs, and expenses (including attorneys' fees) incurred by any ECO-INNOVATIONS’ Party in connection with any claim, including, but not limited to, claims for defamation, violation of rights of publicity and/or privacy, copyright infringement, or trademark infringement arising out of:

1.Your use of our site;

2.Any use or alleged use of your accounts, your Zip Code, your passwords by any person, whether or not authorized by you;

3.The content, the quality, or the performance of content that you submit to our site;

4.Your connection to our site;

5.Your violation of these Terms & Conditions; or

6.Your violation of the rights of any other person or entity.

We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims.

Disclaimers

We disclaim any responsibility for the deletion, the failure to store, the misdelivery, or the untimely delivery of any information or material. We disclaim any responsibility for any harm resulting from downloading or accessing any information or material on the Internet using search results from our site. We disclaim any responsibility for any service outages that are caused by our maintenance on the servers or the technology that underlies our site, failures of our service providers (including telecommunications, hosting, and power providers), computer viruses, natural disasters or other destruction or damage of our facilities, acts of nature, war, civil disturbance, or any other cause beyond our reasonable control.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT OUR SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. IN ADDITION, WE DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE CONTENT ON OUR SITE. OUR SITE AND THEIR CONTENT ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN "AS IS, AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. ANY MATERIAL THAT YOU DOWNLOAD OR OTHERWISE OBTAIN THROUGH OUR SITE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY POTENTIAL DAMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. NEITHER WE NOR ANY OF OUR PARTNERS MAKES ANY WARRANTY THAT (i) OUR SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) OUR SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF OUR SITE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL THAT YOU PURCHASE OR OBTAIN THROUGH OUR SITE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND (v) ANY ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED. NEITHER WE NOR ANY OF OUR PARTNERS MAKES ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO OUR SITE, ANY CONTENT, OR ANY OF OUR SERVICES, TOOLS, PRODUCTS, OR PROPERTIES. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOU WILL ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR SITE AND THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ITS CONTENT.

NEITHER WE NOR OUR PARTNERS SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE OUR SITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY AND THAT OF OUR THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE AGENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Arbitration

ECO-INNOVATIONS, LLC may elect to resolve any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms & Conditions on our site by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in Santa Rosa, California, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Either you or we may seek any interim or preliminary relief from a court of competent jurisdiction in Santa Rosa, California, necessary to protect the rights or the property of you or ECO-INNOVATIONS, LLC (or its agents, suppliers, and subcontractors), pending the completion of arbitration.

Miscellaneous

We may be required by state or federal law to notify you of certain events. You hereby acknowledge and consent that such notices will be effective upon our posting them on our site or delivering them to you through e-mail. You may update your e-mail address by visiting the Services where you have provided contact information. If you do not provide us with accurate information, we cannot be held liable if we fail to notify you.

Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms & Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to use of our site or these Terms & Conditions must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

These Terms & Conditions, including all terms, conditions, and policies that are incorporated into these terms by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and ECO-INNOVATIONS, LLC and govern your use of our site, superceding any prior agreements that you may have with us.

These Terms & Conditions shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, and the parties irrevocably consent to bring any action to enforce these Terms & Conditions before an arbitration panel or before a court of competent jurisdiction in Seattle, Washington if seeking interim or preliminary relief or enforcement of an arbitration award.

If any part of these Terms & Conditions is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superceded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision, and the remainder of the Terms & Conditions shall continue in effect.

Effective Date: April 23, 2009; revised June 7, 2013

Copyright © 2015 ECO-INNOVATIONS, LLC

RELATIVE RATING METHOD

The Automotive Performance Index (API) applies statistical methods to demonstrate each vehicle rating in relative comparison. For example, the vehicle that performs highest in environment performance in a given class obtains a rating score of 100. Each vehicle in its class is then compared relative to the top-performing vehicle with a rating score reflecting the statistical difference in performance outcomes. A score of 91 translates to a 9% environmental performance deficit as compared to the top-performing vehicle.  

Due to the API’s relative vehicle rating method, vehicle class divisions were identified as a critical input - these class divisions are detailed here.

While the Automotive Performance Index is indeed an exhaustive list of vehicles to trim level detail, with each vehicle assessment reporting over 200 unique data outputs (the culmination of thousands of data inputs), ASG has taken additional measures to ease the burden of sorting through all data points and all vehicle assessments. We have developed key performance categories and sorted all vehicles in each class according to Environmental Performance, Social Performance, Economic Performance and All-Around Performance. The vehicle in each class with the best score in each unique category is named the performance award winner (i.e. Best Environmental Performance Award winner). The vehicle in each class that scores highest combined scores in Environmental Performance, Social Performance and Economic Performance is named the ASG Best All-Around Performance Award winner.

One step further, we also name the Best 5 All-Around Performance Award winners in each class to provide consumers with a concise product comparison guide.