KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasFudging Fuel Efficiency
With the astronomical surge in gas prices, the gas mileage your vehicle gets is more important than ever before. But if you think you can count on the mileage you're promised when you buy a car, think again.
Automakers' mileage predictions are based on lab tests performed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) using a machine called a dynamometer that turns the front wheels of the car. But Consumer Reports just analyzed the fuel-economy data of every vehicle it has tested in the last five years and found that the mileage for 90 percent of the vehicles is overstated.
The problem, according to Consumer Reports, is that EPA tests don't correspond to the way most of us drive. EPA tests represent driving on a 75-degree day on a road with no curves or hills --conditions that are ideal for maximizing fuel economy.
In addition, the EPA tests haven't changed in 30 years, so they don't take into account today's driving conditions, including more congestion, idling in traffic, and the widespread use of air conditioning.
Consumer Reports runs its own fuel-economy tests and its engineers say that these tests, which are performed outside rather than in a lab on a dynamometer, give a much more accurate assessment of the actual mileage you'll get from a car.
Consumer Reports tests often turn up results that are substantially different from the EPA's, especially for stop-and-go city driving. For example, EPA tests indicate that the Jeep Liberty Diesel gets 22 mpg, but Consumer Reports found that you'll get half that at 11 mpg. A Chrysler 300 C that the EPA says gets 17 mpg only got 10 mpg in Consumer Reports tests, while a Honda Odyssey minivan that the EPA says gets 20 mpg got only 12 mpg in Consumer Reports tests.
The differences turned up with hybrids in city driving are some of the biggest. For example, the EPA says the Honda Civic gets 48 miles per gallon, but Consumer Reports tests show that it only gets 26 mpg. Consumer Reports says that mileage tends to be overstated more on newer cars than on older ones. So the discrepancy between what you're promised and what you get seems to be growing.
A free list that compares EPA gas mileage to Consumer Reports test results on more than 300 vehicles will be available from Consumer Reports from September 6 until October 3.
Consumer Reports has no commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor appearing on this Web site.
Copyright © 2001-2005 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc.
