Utah startup creates program to renew emissions and registration in your driveway

In 2021, college student Daniel Diehl got pulled over for an expired vehicle registration. He put it off for a few weeks before finally going in to get his emissions test done.

He tried three different shops. Each had about an hour wait.

Eventually, he gave in, picked one and waited. Sitting there, Diehl started wondering why something so easy had to take so much time.

Why couldn't the emissions test come to him instead?

Emissions testing has worked largely the same way for decades. Since Utah began requiring it in 1984, drivers have followed the same routine: drive to a testing station, wait their turn, get the test and go on with their day.

"I experienced firsthand the struggles that often come with getting your emissions done," Diehl explained in an article for the University of Utah's Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. "It's a state requirement with a deadline, and no matter how carefully you plan, there never seems to be a convenient time to do it."

The solution seemed obvious: Bring the emissions test to the car instead of making the car come to the emissions test.

There was just one problem.

Mobile emissions testing wasn't allowed.

That's where the real story began.

Pioneering a U.S. first

The idea was simple. Making it a reality wasn't.

Diehl spent the next several years talking with county officials, studying emissions regulations and trying to create a path for a service that had never been done before.

Diehl called every emissions-testing county in Utah, looking for a way to make the idea work. The answer was essentially the same everywhere: Mobile testing wasn't allowed.

Eventually, Cache County was willing to listen. County officials worked with Diehl to address the regulatory, safety and testing requirements needed to take emissions testing outside of a traditional station.

In 2023, that work paid off. Diehl performed the first mobile emissions tests through MobileEmissions.com, making it the first company in the country to offer mobile emissions testing directly to the public.

What began as a small pilot in Cache County didn't stay there.

Three years later, Diehl and business partner Connor Crockett have expanded MobileEmissions.com into Davis and Utah counties, allowing drivers to get tested without leaving their home or workplace.

What started with one driver wondering why he had to spend two hours getting a 10-minute test has become an entirely new way for Utahns to get their emissions done.

How mobile emissions testing works

The biggest difference between MobileEmissions.com and a traditional emissions station is simple: The customer doesn't go anywhere.

Customers book an appointment online and choose where they want the test performed — at home, at work or anywhere else.

A certified technician arrives, completes the required emissions test and submits the results to the DMV electronically. Most appointments take about 10 to 15 minutes once the technician arrives.

For the customer, there's no drive to the testing station, no waiting room and no need to rearrange the day around an emissions test.

They can handle your registration, too

The convenience doesn't necessarily end when the emissions test is finished.

Mobile Emissions is also an authorized On The Spot Renewal station. For eligible vehicles, customers can renew their registration immediately after passing their emissions test.

That means a driver can walk outside, hand over the keys, and a short time later, have both the emissions test and registration renewal taken care of — including the new registration decal — without making a separate trip to the DMV or waiting for a sticker to arrive in the mail.

Choose how quickly you need it

MobileEmissions.com offers three appointment options depending on how much flexibility a customer has:

• Flex — $65 per vehicle: Choose an available two-hour arrival window for the lowest-priced option.
• Priority — $90 per vehicle: Choose the exact available appointment time that works for you.
• Express — $130 per vehicle: For drivers who need it quickly, Express guarantees service within 60 minutes during eligible business hours.

The company also offers a same-day service guarantee on eligible Priority appointments in Utah and Davis counties.

Customers can check current availability, pricing and appointment times online.

600-plus five-star reviews later

When Diehl started trying to make mobile emissions testing possible, there was no way to know whether Utah drivers would actually pay to have an emissions test come to them.

Three years later, the response provides a pretty clear answer.

MobileEmissions.com has accumulated more than 600 five-star Google reviews.

For some customers, the appeal is simply getting an annoying errand off their list. For others, having the service come to them makes a much bigger difference.

One mother of three wrote:

"The easiest emissions I've ever done. As a mom of three young kids, having someone come to me to get it done was amazing!!"

Another customer pointed out just how much time the service saved:

"So easy and fast, he was finished by the time I would've gotten to the shop."

The reviews repeatedly come back to the same idea that started the company in the first place: A required 10-minute test doesn't necessarily need to take a chunk out of someone's day.

The next goal: Salt Lake and Weber counties

Mobile emissions testing has come a long way from the first Cache County tests in 2023, but there are still two major pieces of the Utah map missing.

Utah has five counties with vehicle emissions programs. MobileEmissions.com currently operates in three of them: Cache, Davis and Utah counties.

Salt Lake and Weber counties still don't allow the company's mobile testing model under their current programs.

Diehl and Crockett hope to change that.

The company is now asking residents of Salt Lake and Weber counties who would use mobile emissions testing to fill out a short interest form.

The goal isn't just to collect potential customers. It's to demonstrate to local officials that residents actually want the option.

For Diehl, there's a certain symmetry to it. The business started with one driver sitting in an emissions station wondering why there wasn't another way.

Now thousands of tests later, the question is no longer whether mobile emissions testing can work.

It's where it will be allowed next.