The official fuel consumption figures quoted by manufacturers are at best a guide to relative fuel consumption. People on the street constantly complain the figures can’t be replicated and more often than not, they’re right, it is impossible to do so. Fuel consumption figures are established under laboratory conditions according to industry standards. In this way, every car can be benchmarked against another and a reference is established for which car is lighter or heavier on fuel. Unless of course you’re Hyundai and Kia, in which case you just, well, ‘lie’ is strong word.
Hyundai and Kia in the United States have got themselves into a bit of trouble by overstating the frugality of their cars. As a result, after an investigation by the EPA (Environment Protection Agency) in the US, the Korean conglomerate has had to adjust their fuel consumption figures for their cars and pay compensation back to owners.
In a frankly, unprecedented action by an automaker, Hyundai and Kia are paying owners the cost difference between the revised figures and previous figures based on their mileage, plus they’re adding an extra 15% for good measure. Hyundai and Kia blame the discrepancy on ‘procedural errors’, but we’re not convinced. The automaker states it discovered ‘procedural errors’ in its coastdown testing. Hyundai says that coastdown testing “simulates aerodynamic drag, tyre rolling resistance and drivetrain frictional losses and provides the technical data used to program the test dynamometers that generate EPA fuel economy ratings.”
“I sincerely apologise to all affected Hyundai and Kia customers and I regret these errors occurred,” said Dr. W. C. Yang, chief technology officer of Hyundai and Kia research and development. “Following up on the EPA’s audit results, we have taken immediate action to make the necessary rating changes and process corrections.”
Between 900 000 and 1 million vehicles built from 2010 are said to be affected. We suppose it is brave of them to take such a radical step in redressing the balance and compensating wronged owners, but that is of course only because the EPA caught them and they have no other choice in the matter.
Do you own a 2010 or newer Hyundai / Kia? What has been your experience with the fuel consumption relative to the manufacturer’s claimed figure?
