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Old 12-20-2012, 10:05 AM   #38 (permalink)
Daox
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Greencarreports had an article last week on this and it basically said that Ford did optimize the car to some extent for the EPA testing. Let me see... ah here it is:

Ford: High Hybrid Mileage May Require No-Fun Delicate Driving

Quote:
On Friday, two company officials addressed the wide discrepancies between real-world mileage delivered by the vehicles--as documented on this site and by Consumer Reports, among others--versus their 47-mpg combined EPA ratings.

Joe Hinrichs, the company's president of the Americas, told The Detroit News that Ford had followed EPA guidelines when testing the cars. (Most carmakers test the cars themselves, then submit test data to the EPA for verification.)

As the Detroit paper noted, "Essentially, the C-Max Hybrid is optimized for the EPA test" because its electric top speed of 62 mph exceeds the highest speed on the EPA's highway test, set at a remarkably low and unrealistic 60 mph.
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