CAFE and the EPA: Fuel economy for advertising deception, not the real world
How can 40 mpg sometimes mean 17 mpg?
When 40 mpg actually means 17 mpg
Let’s say you live in Venice, CA and commute to downtown daily for your 9-5. Every morning you cruise down Venice Boulevard — or at least you try to, but instead find yourself stuck at stop light after stop light — until you finally make it to the long line of cars slowly merging onto the 405. From there stop-and-go traffic takes you to the 10 interchange and downtown, at a top speed of 30 mph, if you’re lucky.
So, to save money at the pump, you buy one of those new 40 mpg cars you’ve been hearing about endlessly, but are disappointed to find that you aren’t even averaging 20 mpg. WTF!?
Earlier today I read Hyundai Responds to Consumer Watchdog’s Elantra Fuel Economy Complaints. Turns out small cars like the Elantra, Chevy Cruze, Honda Civic, etc. don’t typically achieve their CAFE or EPA rated fuel economy numbers. In fact, while automakers tout their new 40 mpg lineup — with tiny asterisks of course — some achieve as little as just 17 mpg in city driving.
17 mpg, yet automakers can’t stop spinning the 40 mpg number.
Of course, many people don’t have LA-style commutes. Nevertheless, these 40 mpg vehicles average closer to 30 mpgs rather than 40 mpgs.
So, why doesn’t the government do something?
They are, right? The government is going to increase CAFE requirements to 55 mpg, although once government math is actualized, the real number is more like 37 mpg in the real world, and probably even lower if you’re a heavy city driver — you know, the kind of congestion transportation studies suggest is the future of the world. But why worry about reality? 1 +1 doesn’t always equal 2.
The real world just doesn’t sell. It has to be made sexy. I mean, seriously, everybody in Jersey doesn’t live the Jersey Shore lifestyle? Everyone in LA doesn’t live like 90210? No way.
Today, big automotive corporations — so critical to the US economy — are in many respects enabled by the government to almost lie to the people, for a profit. Why? Would the truth really be so dangerous? Is reality really so worthless?
Hyundai’s attractive styling, like a beautiful woman, is only skin deep. The truth over time will always come out. Apparently truth in advertising like Reliability is not Hyundai’s strong suit.
You hit the nail on the head Dahc.
For most people, 40 mpg highway doesn’t mean much since 90% of their driving is CITY driving. If you drive in bumper to bumper traffic, your mileage is even worse.
I have a Chrysler Sebring that I chose the 4 cyl option for because it got 30 mpg hwy. But, all my driving is city driving, and my actual mileage, tank after tank was 20 mpg. This is what prompted me to buy my first hybrid.
Now we have a bunch of vehicles that are rated at 40 mpg, but get closer to 25 mpg on a regular basis. And they even if you do get on the highway, you find that when you drive 75 mph, you don’t get 40 mpg……..
We’ve had several Toyotas and Mazdas and they’ve typically met the numbers.
We’ve had several American cars and they usually don’t.
Sorry to hear that about the Hyundais…