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Car makers providing inaccurate 'green' info for customers

Tuesday, 12 Aug 2008 15:46
The Toyota Aygo is one of the eight vehicles tested by 4Car that were found to be less efficient than the official figures suggested
4Car, Channel 4's motoring website, has made allegations regarding the accuracy of the fuel economy and CO2 emissions tests most car manufacturers use.

The website claims the tests used are inaccurate and, by extension, the car companies are not providing the correct information to their customers.

4Car decided to carry out a series of 'real-world' fuel economy tests on a handful of eco-friendly vehicles, all of which are currently seen as fuel economy models.

The cars - the Golf Bluemotion, Skoda Fabia Greenline, Mini Cooper D, Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Aygo, Ford Focus Econetic, Fiat 500 1.2 and the BMW 118d - all failed to meet the official figures provided by their manufacturers.

Some were as much as ten miles per gallon short of the published rates.

According to 4Car, the Golf Bluemotion was the 'greenest' of all the cars, getting closest to its official published figures.

It achieved 57.5 mpg, 5.3 short of the level returned in government-approved tests.

However, Ford's Econetic only returned 54 mpg in 4Car's tests - 11.6 mpg less than the official figures.

Interestingly, 4Car's figures would mean that every single car tested would slip from VED (Vehicle Excise Duty) Road Tax Band B to Band C.

4Car editor Tim Bowdler said: "The official test regime is too simplistic to embrace all the vagaries of real-world operating conditions and it allows certain types of car to look good – too good in fact.

"The batch of cars that we tested all claim to have ‘green’ credentials, but they are not as environmentally friendly or as economical as we've been led to believe.

"Manufacturers argue that the official tests offer a level playing field that enables potential car buyers to make direct comparisons, but they bear little relation to real-world driving.

"The official figures are misleading and I can’t see manufacturers calling for a change because they know the current tests make their cars look more fuel-efficient and cleaner than they are."

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