Ford Hybrids’ Gas Mileage Lower Than Claimed

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Updated Published

Ford C-MAX EV OK

courtesy Ford Motor Co.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has been touting its Fusion hybrid and one model of its C-MAX hybrid family with EPA mileage per gallon (mpg) ratings of “47 city/47 highway/47 combined mpg.” Great, but not true says Consumer Reports magazine.

According to the consumer group, in its tests of the Fusion hybrid, the vehicle delivered 35 mpg in the city, 41 on the highway, and 39 combined. The C-MAX hybrid wagon delivered 35 in the city, 38 on the highway, and 37 combined overall. Consumer Reports notes:

These two vehicles have the largest discrepancy between our overall-mpg results and the estimates published by the EPA that we’ve seen among any current models. … And while our highway test results almost always meet or exceed the EPA highway numbers, our highway figures for these cars fell far below.

In early November, the U.S. EPA forced Hyundai/Kia to change the labeling on their new cars to reflect a change to the estimated fuel economy rating of different models by up to six mpg. At the time, the EPA said that this was only the second time in a dozen years that the agency discovered incorrect label values.

The Consumer Reports article is available here.

Paul Ausick

http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2012/12/video-tests-show-2013-ford-fusion-c-max-hybrids-dont-live-up-to-47-mpg-claims.html

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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