TTAC Rewind: Fuel Economy Skulduggery Is Nothing New

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Hyundai and Kia being called on the carpet for inflated fuel economy claims is a great story for a slow Friday; everybody likes to see a rising star get taken down a notch, and the two Koreans have been the Cinderella story of the auto industry for the last couple of years.

Small wonder then, that in 2010, TTAC reported on some suspect fuel economy figures over in Detroit, similar to what happened with Hyundai/Kia. And nothing was ever done about it.

TTAC examined the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Chevrolet Equinox back in February, 2010. A survey of various road tests (including the vaunted Consumer Reports test) revealed that the Equinox was far from achieving its stated 32 mpg highway rating. The results ranged from 18-25 mpg, far from the advertised figures. That’s anywhere from 22-43 percent lower than Chevrolet’s claims.

In the case of the Fusion Hybrid, the claimed 39 mpg didn’t materialize; most outlets returned 34 mpg. In both cases, the results returned were similar to their competitors, but not close to their stated ratings.

In light of all that, it’s worth asking, why Hyundai/Kia and why now? And why not GM and Ford in 2010? The official line is that the EPA decided to re-test those vehicles as part of their annual campaign to randomly test 15 percent of cars for fuel economy accuracy. The process supposedly validates the self-reporting process for automakers, though they made a point of stating the magnitude of the Hyundai snafu.

The EPA’s auditing of mileage claims by automakers rarely uncovers misrepresentations. It has happened only twice since 2000, the EPA says.

But this is the “first time where a large number of vehicles from the same manufacturer have deviated so significantly,” the agency said.

Compared to the discrepancies at Hyundai (1-3 mpg on average), the missing mpgs for the Equinox are a big deal. The Equinox is a volume product for GM, one of the best-selling crossovers in the segment, and one of its selling points is its superior fuel economy. Why wasn’t anything done about it? I’ll turn it over to Paul Niedermeyer, author of the Equinox piece, to explain

Conspiracy theories are not exactly our preferred fall-back explanation, but it really is rather curious that these two particular cars (Equinox, Fusion Hybrid) are both being heavily advertised (despite the Fusion hybrid’s limited availability) as symbols of American auto manufacturer’s ability to deliver class-leading fuel efficient vehicles. And they carry that EPA stamp of approval. Yet neither of them delivers; in fact the Equinox actually underperforms its peers.

Keep in mind that the EPA tests are not actually performed by the EPA, but by the manufacturers themselves, with a small percentage of cars potentially retested by the EPA. Have they retested the Equinox or the Fusion Hybrid? And if they fell short, would we actually ever hear about it?

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Bufguy Bufguy on Nov 04, 2012

    I know all the anti government people will flame this but it seems to me that the EPA should be responsible for testing the mileage of all cars. The manufacturers could pay a fee, the EPA randomly buys a car off the lot and the EPA tests them all to the same standards. The way it works now is like the fox watching the hen house. I know the NHSTA did that with crash standards. They tested them here in Buffalo at a company called CALSPAN...The manufacturers didn't issue there own test results to the public

    • See 3 previous
    • Icemilkcoffee Icemilkcoffee on Nov 05, 2012

      @icemilkcoffee The car review websites do a lousy job of testing gas mileage. The 'glossies' are an untrustworthy and easily corruptible source to begin with. The cars are not tested under identical conditions. Nobody ever bothers to check the accuracy of the odometers or the gas pumps neither. So there is definitely value in having an impartial test regime. The cost to consumer would be negligible.

  • Icemilkcoffee Icemilkcoffee on Nov 05, 2012

    Yet on Truedelta- the Chevy Equinox owners are reporting numbers which are fairly close to the EPA numbers: http://www.truedelta.com/fuel_economy.php?stage=pt&bd=Chevrolet&mc=62 2012 Equinox 2.4 FWD: 26.1mpg 2011 Equinox 2.4 FWD: 25.5mpg 2010 Equinox 2.4 FWD: 25.4mpg I do notice something rather suspicious though: 2010 Equinox 2.4 AWD: 28.4mpg This is spectacular gas mileage for an AWD CUV if true. And the numbners look to be very consistent: 29.6mpg 27.1mpg 28.3mpg 28.6mpg 28.2mpg All 5 owners are reporting very similar numbers. I hate to be spinning a conspiracy here but I have to say- these numbers look suspicious. Michael Karesh needs to give us some answers.

  • Slavuta Inflation creation act... 2 thoughts1, Are you saying Biden admin goes on the Trump's MAGA program?2, Protectionism rephrased: "Act incentivizes automakers to source materials from free-trade-compliant countries and build EVs in North America"Question: can non-free-trade country be a member of WTO?
  • EBFlex China can F right off.
  • MrIcky And tbh, this is why I don't mind a little subsidization of our battery industry. If the American or at least free trade companies don't get some sort of good start, they'll never be able to float long enough to become competitive.
  • SCE to AUX Does the WTO have any teeth? Seems like countries just flail it at each other like a soft rubber stick for internal political purposes.
  • Peter You know we’ve entered the age of self driving vehicles When KIAs go from being stolen to rolling away by themselves.
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