Email This Story
Print This StoryEPA Mileage Estimates Outdated, Some Say
Drivers Paying More Attention To Miles Per Gallon As Gas Prices Rise
POSTED: 2:15 pm EDT April 27,
2005
OMAHA, Neb. -- Do you know your car's gas mileage? More and more owners are paying attention as prices at the pump continue to rise, Omaha television station KETV reported.If you're buying a new car, you may not be getting the gas mileage you expect. The Environmental Protection Agency has provided mileage estimates on new cars for decades, but AAA Nebraska said the system is outdated and needs a change."The EPA fuel efficiency standards are very outdated. They're basically using tests that were developed back in the 1970s," said AAA's Rose White.
Discuss: High Gas Prices
Calculate: What's A Full Tank Cost?
Buyers told the station that estimated miles a car will go on a gallon of gas can be a deciding factor in a new car purchase."The greater mileage I get, the less it would cost to fill up a car, and the less money I have to spend per year," said John Juno.AAA has seen vehicles underperform the estimates by up to 7 miles per gallon. That's why AAA endorses federal legislation that would change the EPA's testing procedure."The tests we perform take you to real-world experiences. Stop-and-go traffic, traffic that's often heavily congested, takes you on grades that are uphill, downhill -- basically what we would normally experience in our everyday driving habits," White said.A representative from the EPA said it's "working on the issue." Revisions were last made in 1985, but since then "speed limits are higher, congestion has increased and more vehicles are equipped with power-hungry accessories like air conditioning."The EPA said the revisions will be complete "perhaps as soon as the 2008 model year, maybe 2009."The conflict is really over how fast the new estimates will be completed. The EPA said one reason for the delay is that the same experts who do mileage have been busy designing tighter standards for vehicle emissions.In the meantime, consumers can obey the speed limit and keep the air conditioning off to get closer to the mileage advertised, the station said. The EPA's system is still good for comparing two cars in the same class, because each should fall short of the estimate by the same amount.
Discuss: High Gas PricesCalculate: What's A Full Tank Cost?Buyers told the station that estimated miles a car will go on a gallon of gas can be a deciding factor in a new car purchase."The greater mileage I get, the less it would cost to fill up a car, and the less money I have to spend per year," said John Juno.AAA has seen vehicles underperform the estimates by up to 7 miles per gallon. That's why AAA endorses federal legislation that would change the EPA's testing procedure."The tests we perform take you to real-world experiences. Stop-and-go traffic, traffic that's often heavily congested, takes you on grades that are uphill, downhill -- basically what we would normally experience in our everyday driving habits," White said.A representative from the EPA said it's "working on the issue." Revisions were last made in 1985, but since then "speed limits are higher, congestion has increased and more vehicles are equipped with power-hungry accessories like air conditioning."The EPA said the revisions will be complete "perhaps as soon as the 2008 model year, maybe 2009."The conflict is really over how fast the new estimates will be completed. The EPA said one reason for the delay is that the same experts who do mileage have been busy designing tighter standards for vehicle emissions.In the meantime, consumers can obey the speed limit and keep the air conditioning off to get closer to the mileage advertised, the station said. The EPA's system is still good for comparing two cars in the same class, because each should fall short of the estimate by the same amount.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
