Gas mileage stickers deceive, says AAA

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=4a4a6cba9ddf2e76&cat=c08dd24cec417021


Gas mileage stickers deceive, says AAA
Auto club calls EPA numbers inaccurate in ‘real world’ conditions
By George Lewis
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:41 p.m. ET March 8, 2005We've all seen them — those estimated gas mileage numbers posted on new cars. Numbers that turn out to be phony, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which has released its own set of numbers for consumers.



"We give them our estimate, our real world estimate, because our auto reviewers aren't very confident in that EPA number," says AAA spokesperson Mantill Williams.

Neither are many motorists.

more...

"They have a statement that says, 'your actual mileage may vary,'" says the bill's co-author Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J. "They should say, 'your actual mileage bears no relationship to these numbers in the window.'"

I love that quote!!!

[BlueJazz]

1. I guar-on-tee you that people who fight the traffic jams...

..in our major cities are lucky to be getting 8 miles to the gallon.

[AndyTiedye]

5. Traffic Jams are a Piece of Cake for the Prius and Escape Hybrid

They switch to electric power to creep along in traffic, only starting
the engine every once in a while to keep the battery charged.

[Dave Reynolds]

2. I've known this since 1987

when I bought my first new car. The only time I got anything close to the EPA highway mileage is when I coasted down the west side of the Rockies.

Surprisingly my EPA city was not too far off.

[HuckleB]

3. Well...

We had a 1992 Saturn that always got better gas mileage than the EPA ratings said it would, city and especially highway. Then we bought a 1994 Saturn, and it actually came very close to averaging what the EPA ratings said it would get. Now we've got a 2002 Saturn and it typically gets less than the EPA ratings said it would get.

So... Yeah, they're off. Anyone surprised?

[skids]

4. There's a reason for this, and it isn't car companies' faults.

The EPA tests don't do an accurate representation of workload. This was a big problem with the hybrid cars because the way they optimize power makes them perform far better on the tests than they would under real driving conditions. Toyota for one is on record as saying they would have preferred to put a more truthful number on the sticker but they are not allowed to by law.

Unfortunately this has been used by industry shills to try and make it out like the hybrids are a scam against consumers. Anyone who owns one, like me, will tell you they didn't buy the car expecting to save a lot on gas (although every time the gas price bumps up that savings gets a bit closer to covering the extra cost.) We were willing to pay extra for the hybrid drive because it was SULEV and because we wanted to promote new technologies, which have been under-researched and even intentionally held back by auto manufacturers way too long.

It was a "vote with your dollars" thing.

Other examples of FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) planted by hybrid opponents in the media include the articles about rescue workers not being able to use jaws of life to extract people from hybribs due to risk of electrical shock, and this incredibly dumbass plan Oregon has to spend hundreds of dollars per car to shift from a gas tax to a mileage tax, despite the well known fact that big heavy SUVs put much more wear and tear on the pavement than hybrids do.

Beware press releases about fuel saving technology. There are people out there trying to squash it because they are invested in the "good old" automobile industry.

[lovuian]

6. I was in class and My Republican Professor was giving a talk

on how to protect the Environment

She goes the Hybrids are coming out but unfortunately you have to plug them into recharge the battery

It took a Hybrid owner to convince her after class that she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!!!

I was astounded by the Professor's lack of knowledge but then again she was a Republican...

I'm serious this just happened not to long ago!!!

[ElectroPrincess]

9. Yes, I may know her too: Pro-fes-Sor Moran, is that you? LOL /eom

[dsc]

7. I actually come pretty close to what they say

I am about 2 to 3 low on the highway and about 4 low in the city. Given that the tests are still done at 55 mph that explains all the highway and the fact I have a ton of lights on my way to work likely explains the city.

[happyslug]

8. EPA mileage are GUIDELINES not PROMISES

I remember just before the EPA started to give out mileage numbers (and the Democratic Congress of the Time period made it illegal to use any number by the EPA's Numbers). You had claims that a Ford Crown Victoria would get 25 miles to the gallon between two cities (Didn't mention that is was all downhill between the cities and cruising at 25mph with a truck breaking the wind). GM made similar claims.

To solve this problem of outright false claim, Congress told the EPA to test cars for mileage. The EPA did so by coming up with a machine that could measure how many miles a car could go a gallon of gas. A few years later when people started to complain that their Gas mileage did not come close to the EPA figure the EPA came out with its "City mileage" system by the simple expedient of just bringing the car to a stop every so many seconds and than let her go again. This simulated the Stop and Go traffic of City Driving.

This was the best the EPA could do for the purpose of the mileage Guidelines is NOT to show how many miles per gallon you will get, but to be able to compared two different cars and know that a car that was EPA listed at getting 25mpg is more fuel efficient than a car that gets 24mpg. Actual mileage will different for you can NOT put every variation in driving into a test. Thus the EPA only was addressing the issue of COMPARING CARS MILEAGE NOT what MPG you would get.

Now the EPA did propose to change its guidelines in the early 1990s (It was a proposal to come out with a third number that better reflected actual loads on the engine and car) but Congress (Now in GOP Hands) Passed a law that the EPA could NOT change the test. Thus we have the same test as we Had in the 1970s.

Now that Gasoline is going through the roof is the Big Three complaining that the cars they are geared to make will not be bought because people want better fuel economy? Is this why after 30 years of use as a useful GUIDE for COMPARISON that people are again complaining about the actual figures?

My comment is simple, remember what the EPA gasoline guidelines are for , to compare two of more different cars with some sort of baseline number for comparing two of more cars fuel usage. The EPA number is thus a Guideline to compare cars NOT what you would get in either car.