The Environmental Protection Agency will investigate claims by two magazines that the Ford C-Max Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid aren’t living up to their 47 mpg overall rating, The Detroit News reports.
According to a statement released on Saturday, the EPA will review data from Consumer Reports’ tests of the Ford hybrids, in which both hybrids fell well short of the 47 mpg earned in all three EPA categories (city, highway, combined).
Consumer Reports says its most accurate numbers for the C-Max are 35 mpg city, 38 mpg highway, and 37 mpg combined. The Fusion scored 35 mpg city, 41 mpg highway, and 39 mpg combined.
Green Car Reports also noticed a discrepancy in the Fords’ mpg numbers. It could only get 40 mpg out of the C-Max Hybrid.
The EPA did not say what form its investigation would take or, as is the case with Hyundai and Kia, it would consider penalizing Ford. The agency did say that it believes the variability inherent in switching back and forth from gasoline to electric power might be the source of the problem.
“There’s absolutely no doubt: A hybrid is going to be far more variable than a conventional vehicle,” Linc Wehrly, director of light-duty vehicle center compliance at the EPA’s Ann Arbor, Michigan laboratory told the Detroit News.
Ford agreed; a spokesman said the company has received varying mileage reports from customers, including some above 47 mpg, depending on driving style and driving conditions.
Consumer Reports says the Toyota Prius got six fewer mpg in real-world testing, and Car and Driver says the Camry Hybrid also missed the EPA mark in its tests.
However, the EPA’s own survey of consumers still show a bit of a discrepancy. On its Fueleconomy.gov site, the EPA allows owners to post their mileage, and displays the average next to the official mpg ratings.
As of this writing, the C-Max Hybrid was rated at 39.4 mpg, based on results from 33 owners. The Fusion Hybrid scored 40.6 mpg, based on 15 owner reports. Both groups included vehicles from different states with roughly equal amounts of city and highway driving.
The Prius, rated at 50 mpg combined, is currently scoring 51.1 mpg in the real-world survey. The Camry Hybrid is rated at 40 mpg combined, and is currently scoring 39.8 mpg.
Depending on the results of its investigation, the EPA could force Ford to lower its mpg ratings, taking away a significant selling point for the Blue Oval’s wares. Ford could also find itself in the same position as Hyundai and Kia, who are compensating owners that bought cars with inflated mpg claims.
EPA mileage claims for vehicles have always been fiction. Originally they were determined objectively, on a treadmill-like device called a dynamometer. But those devices don’t account for aerodynamics so later EPA dynamometer results were altered to lower or raise economy based on a subjective estimate of each vehicle’s aerodynamic properties. Then political pressure to support alcohol-fueled engines caused EPA to enhance the fictional mileage figure of alcohol-burning vehicles to encourage their sales. More “enhancement” was given to mileage ratings of electric and dual-powered cars. Total-electric cars, which burn no fuel, nevertheless get EPA fuel mileage stickers which tout exorbitantly high miles per gallon per vehicle.
Wise consumers learned thirty years ago that government fuel claims, like government claims in general, are politicized fiction, propaganda, in other words.
The EPA estimates are estimates! They are so you can compare cars, NOT a promise of you will actually get. BTW, I actually did get 41 mpg in my Fusion when diving with the heater and A/C off. Using the heater does in fact reduce mileage as well as the 10% ethenol blend.
Open letter to Ford:
I thought my 2013 C-MAX would be a Prius Killer? NOT! As a returning Ford buyer I feel deceived. I want to support US companies and US jobs. What was Ford thinking when they published 47/ 47/47 estimates? Based on the advertised EPA estimates, I would have been ok with low 40′s but 28-33 mpg is not even in the ballpark. This is not an issue about EPA testing standards, but rather an issue about setting false customer expectations in order to promote sales. Ford’s “47MPG” marketing campaign tarnished what should have been the roll out of a truly remarkable vehicle, the CMAX. Real world MPG estimates should have been promoted in the mid-30′s. No one would have questioned those numbers and the CMAX would have received the accolades it deserves. How these MPG estimates made it through Ford corporate is beyond me! Maybe it was the rush to go to market? I have been accused of not knowing how to drive hybrid. For the record, during the last three years I have leased both a 2010 Prius and 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid, and consider myself an experienced hyper-miler. My mileage in the Prius is 50 plus, the Insight is 40 plus. The C-MAX is a well-built car, with extremely inflated EPA estimates. I respectfully request that this matter be investigated as soon as possible. My efforts to deal with this locally and through Ford customer service have frustrated me to no end. The constant response? “You need to learn to how to drive hybrid type of vehicle “. Is there a difference how I drive Prius Hybrid vs. the CMAX hybrid? I think we all know the answer to that. I need someone at Ford to reach out to me and assist in a proactive manner so we can put this matter to rest.
Ronald Kramer Yankee Ford Customer
South Portland, Maine
I solved the low MPG problem with my Ford C-Max!! I got rid of it!! I quickly traded it for a Prius – before all the class action lawsuits and EPA investigation news made it impossible for me to get any value at all back on my C-Max when trading. I bought a 2013 Prius 4 after owning the C-Max for 5 months and 5 days – with 37 being the HIGHEST MPG I ever obtained in the C-Max! P.S. I am getting 51 MPG in my Prius – so I guess that should tell you that, after driving hybrids for 6 years, I DO know how to drive a hybrid.