Vehicle fuel economy - Australian showrooms forced to display realistic data
Posted 31/03/09
From April 1st 2009 Australian car makers must display both the urban (city) and extra urban (highway) vehicle fuel economy figures on cars in showrooms. Previously, they only had to display a combined vehicle fuel economy figure, which was skewed towards highway driving and hid the real fuel efficiency of some cars in typical day to day driving.
This is a big step forward in enlightening consumers about vehicle fuel economy since some larger cars can use almost twice as much fuel in the city as in the country. For example the Holden Commodore Calais V6 uses 15.8l/100km in the city versus a fuel economy of 8.6l/100km on the open road. A government spokesman said "most people would intuitively know their cars use more fuel in the city than on the highway but the labels will help to quantify the difference."
Not only will the new vehicle fuel economy figures give motorists more information about the cost of running a car but it also allows a more informed choice about the environmental impact of a certain vehicle.
The new information will be loaded onto the governments Green Vehicle Guide website and motorists will be able to use an online calculator to work out how much they will save on their fuel bill if they change to a more economical vehicle.
Before 2003, vehicle makers were required to display city fuel economy figures but from 2003 to 2009 they only had to provide an average fuel efficiency figure which was based on 37 per cent city driving and 63 per cent highway driving.
City vehicle fuel economy figures will be calculated by a dynamometer test at an average speed of 19km/h and will include idling, followed by a series of stops and starts. Highway vehicle fuel economy figures will be calculated at an average speed of 63km/h and will include acceleration up to 120km/h.
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