Fuel economy LIE - Your car may not be as efficient as you think, here’s why
MISLEADING fuel-economy figures mean that some motorist’s cars may not be as economical as they thought.
Consumer motoring website Honest John analysed 118,000 Real MPG fuel reports submitted by UK drivers and found that, on average, a car uses almost a quarter (24 per cent) more fuel than it should.
The gap between the figures obtained in a laboratory and the real world is at its widest point ever with just one in ten cars hitting their official MPG.
British motorists are therefore unwittingly using an estimated 2970 million extra litres of petrol and an additional 2609 million litres of diesel every year.
This equates to an average of 13.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions entering the atmosphere unknowingly and could have been avoided if accurate information was provided.
Honest John report that on paper CO2 emissions for cars have been falling but in the real world they have remained largely stable.
Of the cars tested, the UK's worst performing car for real MPG achieving just 66.9 per cent of its advertised fuel economy is the BMW X5.
The X5 was closely followed by the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Audi A4 with a respective 67.5 and 68.3 per cent.
Advertised fuel economy figures are quite simply too good to be true.
The Volvo XC90 (68.5%) and Fiat 500X (69.6%) complete the list of bottom five cars on sale right now for real world economy.
From September 2017, the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) test for new cars will be replaced with the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP).
However, while the WLTP should be more reflective of real world driving conditions, it will still be laboratory-based.
Honest John’s Managing Editor, Daniel Powell, said: “Real MPG has shown that, for the majority of drivers, advertised fuel economy figures are quite simply too good to be true.
“As a result, many are finding it increasingly difficult to understand how much fuel a car will use or how polluting it will be.
“We welcome the introduction of the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), but it remains to be seen if this new laboratory-based test will provide the realistic figures that the public have been crying out for – there’s clearly a need for change in the way that MPG is measured, as the real world figures don’t reflect those of laboratories.”
The worst cars on sale in terms of disparity between claimed and Real MPG fuel economy are:
1) BMW X5 - 66.9 per cent
2) Land Rover Discovery Sport - 67.5 per cent
3) Audi A4 - 68.3 per cent
4) Volvo XC90 - 68.5 per cent
5) Fiat 500X - 69.6 per cent
6) MINI Hatch - 70.0 per cent
7) Peugeot 308 SW - 70.2 per cent
8) Range Rover Evoque - 70.4 per cent
9) Ford Fiesta - 71.0 per cent
10) Hyundai Tucson - 71.3 per cent
The best cars on sale in terms of disparity between claimed and Real MPG fuel economy are:
1) Mazda MX-5 - 101.5 per cent
2) Toyota Verso - 99.5 per cent
3) Toyota GT86 - 98.4 per cent
4) Subaru Forester - 97.1 per cent
5) Peugeot Partner Tepee - 92.9 per cent
6) Suzuki SX4 S-Cross - 92.0 per cent
7) SEAT Mii - 90.6 per cent
8) Volkswagen Jetta - 90.4 per cent
9) Suzuki Swift - 90.1 per cent
10) Volkswagen Scirocco - 88.6 per cent