EPA Fuel Economy Ratings
Saturday April 8, 2006
The EPA is talking about making major changes to the way it estimates fuel economy. The current rating system was developed over twenty years ago. It tests vehicles on a dynamometer, a set of rollers that the car is pulled onto. The vehicle sits in place and its wheels turn the rollers. The drag on the rollers is adjusted to simulate different driving conditions. So the car or truck's gas mileage is never tested in the real world--no wind resistance, no accessories running. To top it off, simulated speeds are far less than the average driver drives--an average of 20 miles per hour for city tests and 48 miles per hour for highway figures. Use the EPA ratings to help you compare vehicles in a class, but don't count on them for a real accurate projection of actual gas mileage.EPA ratings for some popular 2006 trucks:
I don’t want to click on each model. I want a chart to compare all at once.
ditto