Researcher Claims Real-World Economy and Lab Testing Are Miles Apart

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

One of my guiltiest of pleasures is telling anyone trapped with me in a confined space for more than thirty seconds that practical fuel economy hasn’t improved in a meaningful way since 2014. While the EPA has raised corporate economy estimates, consumer spending has skewed toward larger and less economical models — invalidating the technological gains made in a vehicular catch-22.

However, some researchers have also begun calling the technologies focused on cutting emissions and saving fuel into question. We already know that lab tests can be gamed through clever engineering. But we don’t drive vehicles on a rolling road and the differences between the lab and the street are immense. Emissions Analytics, an independent company based in the United Kingdom, has tested more than 500 vehicles in the United States since 2013 and believes a change in testing venue can make all the difference.

The firm conducts real-world analyses under normal on-road driving conditions using portable testing gear. Its says its goal is to suss out which trends in the automotive space actually have a meaningful impact on economy — and which are bunk.

According to Automotive News, Emissions Analytics plans to release its full findings on U.S. vehicles in early October. Nick Molden, the company’s founder and CEO, says EA wants to provide the public with an accurate and unbiased look into the true fuel economy and CO2 emissions of the vehicles they’re interested in and their true impact on the environment.

“You can only decide if you have the right information,” Molden explained to Automotive News. “The EPA sticker is — I would say — good up to a point, but we can give a lot more information.”

That sounds more like a sales pitch than anything else, but he may have a point. Turbochargers are wonderful creations but they don’t provide much in the way of fuel savings when you constantly hammer the throttle. EA is convinced that most lab testing doesn’t provide an authentic driving experience, where turbos would be allowed to spool more freely. It is also concerned that the growing industry trend toward smaller module engines is approaching a tipping point.

“Downsizing is a good thing up to a point,” Molden said. “You go past a certain inflection point and actually you can find that the real-world mpg will actually get worse if you go too small … As soon as you start going below 2 liters, that’s where we start seeing the gaps open up between EPA sticker and real world.”

Instead of relying on microscopic motors offset by forced induction, Molden says automakers would be better served by attempting to lighten vehicles utilizing hybridized powertrains. While that’s easier said than done in a society currently obsessed with SUVs and crossovers, an under-stressed engine will always perform better — regardless of size.

He also likes standard hybrids over plug-in EVs since they’re cheaper to produce and easier to live with. They’re also not incentivized by most governments, so their sales amid cheap gasoline reflect a baseline of sustainable market demand. Other technologies Emissions Analytics says it’s willing to openly endorse are multi-speed transmissions and tires that focus on efficiency, rather than dynamics or appearance.

“There’s so much good technology out there,” Molden said. “There are genuine efficiency improvements happening. The marketplace just needs to know so people can then choose the right vehicles when they’re in the showroom.”

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Focus-ed Focus-ed on Sep 11, 2017

    Yet another thing is the MT vs AT. No matter one's driving style, mpgs will be better with MT (despite automakers shenanigans to mess with gear ratios to the detriment of MT). I average 35+ (at the pump) from 2l 02 ZX3. 2l 16 GTI nets 40. The perfect downsizing example was my 1.8l 15 Golf. That thing routinely averaged 45 (again, all measurements at the pump, no computer readout trickery). Technically the Golf and GTI are identical vehicles (particularly in the trim I got them) so the .2l difference and higher gearing in Golf really made difference (and I could not complain on performance outside tricky to master 1st gear). Now, I'd not touch Honda with 1.5l. No idea who came out with idea to put that thing into a whale like CRV. Same with regard to Chevy.

  • Don1967 Don1967 on Sep 12, 2017

    Nothing kills real world MPG faster than short trips on a cold engine in an over-engineered city full of unnecessary four-way stop signs. When I drove a Hyundai Elantra under these conditions, not even the most delicate hyper-miling techniques could get me anywhere near the official City rating.

    • ToddAtlasF1 ToddAtlasF1 on Sep 12, 2017

      It's pretty funny that the left pretends to care about resources and then traffic calms the hellholes they infest into permanent grid lock through unnecessary traffic controls and intentionally bad light timing. Air quality suffers when average speed drops to a jogging pace. Even EVs waste energy when they dedicate more of their power draw to climate control than propulsion.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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