Latest Version of MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES)

MOVES6: 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.

• Background
• Guidance
• Download
• User Materials

Background on MOVES6

MOVES6 is now the latest official version of MOVES and has been updated and improved from the previous version. There are no changes to the MOVES interface since MOVES5.

• Electric vehicle fractions were reduced to account for the repeal of greenhouse gas standards and reductions in incentives for EVs and EV infrastructure. Medium- and heavy-duty EV fractions were also reduced to account for Congressional disapproval of the waiver for California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulations.
• Energy consumption rates for light-duty model years 2017-2024 were updated based on real-world data. Rates for MY 2025 and later continued these trends.
• Historical and projected vehicle miles traveled and vehicle populations were updated using the latest data on school buses and transit buses, as well as updated values from the Federal Highway Administration Highway Statistics (2023) and the Department of Energy Annual Energy Outlook (2025).
• Emission rates were corrected to fix minor errors in MOVES5. The fixes affected exhaust hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter from MY 2031 and later medium-duty (Class 2b and 3) trucks, carbon monoxide from MY 2027 and later light-duty cars and trucks, and tire wear from all compressed natural gas heavy-heavy-duty (Class 8) trucks.
• Gasoline properties in a few counties were updated to account for new data and changes to local fuel requirements since MOVES5.

These updates ensure that MOVES6 is a state-of-the-science model for estimating emissions from on-road vehicles and other categories of nonroad equipment.

• EPA Releases MOVES6 Mobile Source Emissions Model: Questions and Answers (pdf) (258.09 KB, October 2026, EPA-420-F-26-010)  highlights the difference between MOVES6 and earlier versions of MOVES.
• Overview of EPA’s MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES6) (pdf) (8.1 MB, October 2026, EPA-420-R-26-005)  provides a high-level overview of MOVES6, including references to technical documentation and other MOVES information.
• Onroad and nonroad technical reports that explain MOVES inputs, including changes for MOVES6 are available.

Guidance

• MOVES6 Policy Guidance: Use of MOVES for State Implementation Plan Development, Transportation Conformity, General Conformity and Other Purposes (pdf) (449.49 KB, October 2026, EPA-403-B-26-001) . This guidance describes how and when to use MOVES6 for SIP development, transportation conformity, general conformity, and other purposes in states other than California. This guidance also covers the use of earlier versions of MOVES, MOVES5 and MOVES4, for SIP and transportation conformity purposes. National default EV projections in these earlier versions of MOVES are no longer consistent with the latest information and data available. See the Emissions Models and Conformity section of EPA’s Policy and Technical Guidance for State and Local Transportation page.
• MOVES6 Technical Guidance: Using MOVES to Prepare Emission Inventories for State Implementation Plans and Transportation Conformity (pdf) (1.01 MB, October 2026, EPA-403-B-26-002)  This guidance describes appropriate input assumptions and sources of data for the use of MOVES6 in SIP development and regional emissions analyses for transportation conformity determinations in states other than California. It also includes guidance on developing nonroad inventories. See the Emissions Models and Conformity section of EPA’s Policy and Technical Guidance for State and Local Transportation page.
• 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 MOVES6

• MOVES6.0.0 (exe) : After downloading the setup file, run MOVES6.0.0-Setup-20261015.exe and follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.
  • MOVES6 Update Log provides a summary of updates to MOVES5.

MOVES User Materials

• MOVES6 does not have a stand-alone user guide. User help information is integrated into the model itself; also refer to the MOVES6 Technical Guidance: Using MOVES to Prepare Emission Inventories for State Implementation Plans and Transportation Conformity. See the Emissions Models and Conformity section of EPA’s Policy and Technical Guidance for State and Local Transportation page.
• 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 (MOVES6) (pdf) (8.1 MB, October 2026, EPA-420-R-26-005)  provides a high-level overview of MOVES6, including references to technical documentation and other MOVES information.