Car makers pocketing the price of extra fuel use

Car makers are lining their own pockets by not having to expend extra R&D money on fuel saving technology, and passing the cost on to the motorist instead. That's the somewhat controversial claim being made by eco-pressure group Transport & Environment (T&E), which is saying that some brands are over-exaggerating their fuel economy claims by as much as 40 per cent.

That news is in and of itself nothing new – these pages have been replete in recent years and months with tales of car makers cheating on their fuel exams – using such underhand (but technically, under the current test regime, entirely legal) techniques as taping over cracks around doors and grilles, overinflating the tyres, adjusting the wheel alignment and brakes, using special super-lubricants, minimising the weight of the vehicle and testing at altitude, at unrealistically high temperatures and on super-slick test tracks. Car makers say that it’s merely a case of putting their best testing foot forwards. Organisations such as T&E and the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT) cry foul.

Now though, T&E is raising the stakes by claiming that not only do these inflated test results allow car makers to avoid paying taxes and penalties for exceeding average Co2 legislation rules, they’re also pocketing the proceeds of not having to pay for extra research and development needed to actually reduce the emissions and consumption of their vehicles.

According to T&E's latest report, "VW recently claimed each gram of Co2 emissions it is required to reduce costs it €100 million. On this basis VW alone has saved around €1.7 billion by test manipulation and by extrapolation, the entire car industry has saved at least €7 billion. This cost is met by carmakers' customers who as a result are paying an average around €2,800 for additional fuel that is being burned over the lifetime of the car. In one year the cumulative cost of additional fuel consumed by newly manufactured cars is around €35 billion – five times more than has been saved by carmakers (based upon VW's own figures). Carmakers are effectively cheating their own customers."

T&E claims that the official figures are fooling motorists into paying, on average, €500 a year more than they should be on fuel – a figure which backs up the similar €450 a year number arrived at by the ICCT after what it called rigorous real-world testing.

TA& names Mercedes as being the worst offender of the European car makers, over-inflating its fuel claims by as much as 40 per cent compared to the real world average recorded by T&E's testers. Its ire is also directed at GM Opel/Vauxhall, which it says has actually delivered less than 20 per cent of its claimed fuel economy improvement since 2008. Ford and VW also come in for criticism, while Toyota, Renault, Fiat and PSA Peugeot Citroen are somewhat closer to godliness.

"All carmakers optimise test results but data shows that cars produced by Daimler, BMW and Ford exhibit the largest real-world gaps — in excess of 30 per cent. However, in the past 12 months all carmakers have become more adept at manipulating the tests such that all carmakers now have an average gap of 25 per cent or more" says T&E.

All of which has redoubled calls for the new World Light Duty Test Procedure (WLTP) to be introduced as rapidly as possible, to replace the ageing New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) test. It’s supposed to be introduced by 2017, but car makers are already calling for it to be delayed till 2022. A key part of their concern is that the EU-mandated 95g/km average vehicle Co2 limit comes into force in 2020, but that number is based on the NEDC test. If WLTP comes in before 2020, it could prove impossible for Europe’s car makers to meet the legislation, and that means big fines.

Greg Archer, T&E clean vehicles manager, said: "The gap between real world fuel economy and distorted official test results has become a chasm. The current test has been utterly discredited by carmakers manipulating official test results. Unless Europe introduces the new global test in 2017 as planned, carmakers will continue to cheat laws designed to improve fuel efficiency and emissions reductions. The cost will be borne by drivers who will pay an additional €5,600 for fuel over the lifetime of the car compared to the official test result.

“The US has shown how to provide accurate consumer information and limit the abuse of official tests by carmakers through effective market surveillance by an independent regulator. In contrast, the EU system allows carmakers to pay testing authorities to test prototypes in their own laboratories using an obsolete test. The results are distorted fuel economy figures, more climate-changing emissions and air pollution. If the new European Commission doesn’t strengthen the system of car testing, the only place cars will be less polluting is in the laboratory.”