Ford Motor Company announced that it is lowering the fuel economy ratings for six different vehicles. These include its 2013 and 2014 model year hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles as well as most 2014 model year Fiestas. Ford identified the errors through internal testing and notified the EPA, working with the agency to retest the vehicles and identify correct fuel economy numbers.
Ford’s CEO stated that the company is absolutely committed to offering the correct fuel economy numbers and will offer goodwill payments to those that purchased the vehicles with inflated numbers. The payments will equal the estimated average fuel cost of the difference between the two fuel economy labels and range from as little as $125 on a leased Ford Fiesta 1.0L GTDI manual transmission up to $1050 for a purchased Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. He also said that Ford is “taking steps to improve our processes and prevent issues like this from happening again.”
Hoping to avoid any GM-like accusations, Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development boasted “This is our error. When we see an issue, we address it.”
The specific error had to do with the vehicle-specific resistance levels used in vehicle dynamometer testing that determines fuel economy ratings. Called “total road load horsepower,” the resistance levels are established through engineering models that are validated through vehicle testing, including physical track tests referred to as coastdown testing. These engineering models are consistent with EPA regulations and are more reliable and consistent than physical testing.
Ford estimates that it has sold or leased nearly 200,000 of these vehicles which include the 2014 Ford Fiesta, and 2013 and 2014 C-MAX Hybrid, Fusion Hybrid, MKZ Hybrid, C-MAX Energi and Fusion Energi.
Check out TFLcar’s review of the peppy 2014 Ford Fiesta 1.0L…
