When the average person buys a new car one of the decision making aspects is usually how much fuel it will consume each week. If it will be used for the commute to work the distance covered and the road conditions are a known factor and the buyer relies on the sticker attached to the windscreen which is what the car manufacturers claim their economy tests show. Unfortunately, in practice these often vary wildly from reality.
It is one of the inconsistencies of the car industry that fuel economy tests are conducted by each manufacturer and naturally they aim to achieve the best results possible. These test cars are driven as frugally as possible and are specially prepared for the event. The weight is kept to a minimum - and even the spare tyre is missing on fuel economy test runs. Even the gaps between doors and the car body are masked over to prevent wind resistance increasing fuel use.
Car owners have long complained that new car economy varies wildly from those claims and the Australian Automobile Association commissioned an independent study after the Volkswagen emissions scandal. It tested seventeen of the most common new vehicles sold in this country under what it termed " normal driving conditions ".
The results were certainly interesting. Just one of the cars tested did better than their claimed manufacturers test results. The other sixteen did between one percent and sixty percent worse ! Some new cars are using twenty-five percent more fuel that what is claimed on those government mandated fuel economy labels.
The cost of car fuel fluctuates wildly and represents a big percentage of the family budget. The average buyer is trying to balance the seating number that suits his or her family size with the type of vehicle that will meet that need, and the engine size and type that will deliver an acceptable performance. When the choice is between several model and makes of near equal standard the final choice is often left to fuel economy claims.
Car buyers are entitled to better than a " lucky dip " when it comes to vehicle standards. Before any new model is cleared for registration on Australian roads it is tested by our national road safety authority and awarded up to five stars which relate to injury protection for the driver and passengers, and even damage that the vehicle may inflict on pedestrians in its path. Few vehicles sold in Australia today lack that five star standard.
It would be reasonable to expect that same national testing authority to conduct fuel economy tests at the same time safety ratings are established and those tests would be done on Australian streets and country roads to give a mix of conditions, and under the weather conditions that prevail in this country. Such independent tests could be expected to give results consistent with what the driving public could expect under average driving conditions.
The Association is not " naming and shaming " the makers whose cars did not meet their claimed economy standards but these tests have sent a very clear message to the Federal government and the car industry that the present economy testing regime is lacking credibility. It can not be left to the car industry to continue to conduct tests to a lesser standard and make fuel economy claims that do not equate to any reality in actual driving conditions.
The facility to test here in Australia is ready and waiting in the hands of the road safety standards association. It would be fair to give the car industry warning that from now all new models sent for registration testing evaluation will also be tested for fuel economy - and the results of those tests will be a mandatory requirement to be shown on each new car offered for sale.
If manufacturers decide to withdraw models that they know will not meet acceptable fuel economy standards that would be a welcome outcome. The existing tests are clearly designed to sell inefficient vehicles by subterfuge. It is time that custom ceased !
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