It looks like Ford has some 'splainin' to do to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after two of its new hybrids came up short of the company's fuel-economy claims in an independent Consumer Reports test, Bloomberg News reports.
Ford's Fusion and C-Max Hybrids came up about 20 percent short of the official EPA 47-mile-per-gallon figured the US automaker has advertised. Ford has introduced a half-dozen new hybrids to the US public this year. Ford has allowed that hybrid fuel economy can be swayed far more by driving styles than the fuel economy of conventionally powered vehicles. As you might now, Hyundai admitted to a problem earlier this year and is compensating customers.
So far this year, Ford has boosted its hybrid sales with the C-Max Hybrid, which has bettered the competing Toyota Prius V wagon in sales in each of last two months. In November, Ford sold 4,730 alt-fuel vehicles in the US, more than twice as many as it did in the same month in 2011.
UPDATE: Ford send us the following clarification: For the headline, we said we will work with the EPA on behalf of the industry to determine if any changes are needed for hybrid testing. We did not talk about any specific vehicles as the headline suggests. We also think it's important to note a third-party C-MAX Hybrid forum has a wide collection of customer fuel economy reports, including quite a few between 45-55 mpg.
Ford's Fusion and C-Max Hybrids came up about 20 percent short of the official EPA 47-mile-per-gallon figured the US automaker has advertised. Ford has introduced a half-dozen new hybrids to the US public this year. Ford has allowed that hybrid fuel economy can be swayed far more by driving styles than the fuel economy of conventionally powered vehicles. As you might now, Hyundai admitted to a problem earlier this year and is compensating customers.
So far this year, Ford has boosted its hybrid sales with the C-Max Hybrid, which has bettered the competing Toyota Prius V wagon in sales in each of last two months. In November, Ford sold 4,730 alt-fuel vehicles in the US, more than twice as many as it did in the same month in 2011.
UPDATE: Ford send us the following clarification: For the headline, we said we will work with the EPA on behalf of the industry to determine if any changes are needed for hybrid testing. We did not talk about any specific vehicles as the headline suggests. We also think it's important to note a third-party C-MAX Hybrid forum has a wide collection of customer fuel economy reports, including quite a few between 45-55 mpg.
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