Oh dear, this is really bad PR for Hyundai/KIA

And the EPA has already updated their site.

For example, the Elantra is now 28/38/32.

Fuel Economy - Find and Compare Cars

 

Photos are notoriously bad for capturing context, so do you have the context for this particular photo?

The context I remember was that most American's have less than a 40 mile daily commute and that in those circumstances they could expect to get 230 miles per gallon of gasoline purchased, along with plugging in every night. I then evaluated my own driving profile, about 44 miles round trip, and decided to take the leap. I am getting more than 230 miles per gallon purchased, along with daily charging.

 

I've pointed out before that the official published fuel efficiency estimate for the Volt in Europe is 196 mpg (US gallons) which is not far from the 230 mpg that GM was publicizing based on a non-final proposed EPA estimate formula for plugin cars.

The only thing misleading about GM's press event was that the calculation method was not yet officially published and it was ultimately withdrawn.

 

According to the EPA press release put out this morning, the EPA has a dedicated test facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan that routinely audits the manufacturer results. The EPA itself tests 150-200 cars per year in this audit program and verifies mileage estimates and emission results. The cars are both selected randomly and some are targeted based on factors such as consumer complaints. The Hyundai and Kia "errors" were caught during this audit process.

 

So why did you? You pointed to a piece of data in the course of a discussion, shouldn't we expect that you looked at it, and thought it was both valid and supported your point?

 

It was the data that Jimbo selected, I looked at it but it didn't seem to support HIS statement.

 

Most of the Hyundai exaggeration was up to ~ 5%; the Volt exaggeration was 17.3%. So if you frame the GM number as "not far," what do you call Hyundai's ?

 

Jimbo selected the model. You selected that particular car, and even a particular month, as a counter example. You even went so far as to check what other cars he owned.

 

Jimbo selected Equinox and FUELLY. With only 102 self-selected and self-reported vehicles, not the best data set, but hey, it's a start I suppose. I didn't go through all the vehicles and see what was the best tank, average tank, 100% highway, etc ... The range of reported mpg even within the 2012 models (narrowed because I assumed the 22/31 was current stickers) seemed to support the 22/31 estimates, with the usuall outliers. When Jimbo stated that not even a single vehicle had achieved the 31, I simply pointed to the first vehicle that seemed to be in conflict with his statement.

 

I'm not setup to capture and post the graphic from myvolt.com like John did but I just transcribed my own data from that site covering the same 30 day average. This data is automatically downloaded from the car via OnStar.

Electric Miles:
1,937

Gas Miles:
367

Total Miles:
2,304

Fuel Economy:
292 MPG

Combined Economy:
112 MPGe

Total Fuel Used:
8 gal

Total Electricity Used:
425 kW-hr

That works out to 46.5 MPG gas-only hybrid mode (367/ (2304/292)).

That closely matches my own day-to-day calculations that range from 44-50 on trip segments lasting at least .33 gallons. In the past, I have hand calculated my mpg from the pump on a couple of occasions and found results that matched within 1% of the car's display.

The 425 kWh electricity works out to 4.5 miles per kWh from the battery. That's equivalent to 22 kWh/100 miles. The equivalent number including charging overhead is 25 kWh/100 miles.

The MPGe shown does not include battery charging overhead and is therefore misleading. There is another screen (the initial login page) that shows 30 day efficiency that includes charging overhead in it's calculations but I used the data consistent with John's post for consistency. Including charging overhead, my MPGe would be closer to 100-105 MPGe (which includes gas use since I was about 85% electric).

 

At least for the 4 cyl, then median is 25ish.

If GM is screwing around with EPA mileage, the Equinox is not a smoking gun. At least by Fuelly.

 

That is the best explanation of MPG for PHV's that I have ever heard. Thats exactly what its like. Screw it though, I still want to boast about my lifetime mpg.

 

John as you may know, it is illegal in the US to advertize any MPG numbers in larger type than the EPA numbers.

All you need to do is produce a EPA document that says the the Volt gets 230 MPG and that is not an unethical banner.

 

Did you find a single owner who averaged the EPA estimated Hwy number or better in an Equinox? All the other vehicles mentioned have some owners beating the EPA Hwy estimate. Even the cars just reprimanded for faking the test.

 

using FUELLY data?

 

Or any other large database using many owners of every cars sold, your choice.

 

30.2 SullyNox (Chevrolet Equinox) | Fuelly
31 Gold Mist Equinox (Chevrolet Equinox) | Fuelly
29.4 merlotnox (Chevrolet Equinox) | Fuelly
30.9 Equinox (Chevrolet Equinox) | Fuelly
38.5 PieceOfS (Chevrolet Equinox) | Fuelly (suspect I suppose)
30.4 White family Equinox (Chevrolet Equinox) | Fuelly

Fuelly does not seem to report HWY only mpg, so best fillup is probably the closest for a non-hybrid. although maybe understated if they did some city driving on the same fillup.

Do you feel that the EPA should audit the Equinox's testing results? You seem to feel that GM is exempt from EPA audits.

 

Re: the Equinox, I believe I posted this long ago: Why The Chevy Equinox EPA Mileage Numbers Don’t Add Up | The Truth About Cars.

 

I don't see any reference to EPA numbers on that banner. Maybe my monitor isn't large enough.