Ford Ready With Remedies for Controversial Hybrid Fuel Economy

Edmunds.com

Ford Ready With Remedies for Controversial Hybrid Fuel Economy

Ford officials said yesterday the company is ready to roll out a number of engineering enhancements to ensure the fuel economy of its C-Max and Fusion hybrids comes closer to their official EPA ratings.

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greenpony

I am curious if there was any intentional or unintentional wrongdoing here, or if the EPA mpg testing rules allow manufacturers to overestimate ratings. We all know hybrid ratings are overstated, but Ford's seemed even more so.

agentorange

I don't know why Ford are bothering to do this work. The problem, if any, lies with the EPA test procedure, not with Ford. They would do better by spending just 10% of the money referring complainers to the EPA.

karbuff

It's like knowing the answers to the test you are about to take. Program your cars to pass the EPA test, but how it works in the real world is of lesser importance. Marketing over satisfied customers. Ford's marketing department may be having their cake but based on how Hyundai's class action went, it may end up all over their face. I'm guessing the EPA will change the test procedures after this one.

agentorange

"Ford's marketing department may be having their cake but based on how Hyundai's class action went, it may end up all over their face. " The difference here is that Hyundai's testing procedure was shown to have "irregularities" if you get my drift. Ford appears to be clean in this area... so far. ;-)

shatner

"reduce the speed of the electric radiator cooling fan; reduce engine warm-up time by as much as 50 percent to more quickly enable all-electric driving and use of the engine's stop-start function; and optimize the automatic climate-control system to reduce energy use."
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Great! No you and your Ford can overheat!