Hyundai / Kia MPG's

[CR-Z Canadian]

Well, I guess what some have said here for a long time, has now hit the mainstream media:
EPA finds Hyundai, Kia overstated gas mileage - CBS News

Hyundai and Kia overstated the gas mileage on 900,000 vehicles sold in the past three years, a discovery that could bring sanctions from the U.S. government and millions of dollars in reimbursements to car owners.

The inflated mileage was uncovered in an audit of test results by the Environmental Protection Agency, which ordered the Korean automakers to replace fuel economy stickers on the affected cars. The new window stickers will have figures that are one-to-six miles per gallon lower depending on the model, the agency said Friday."

[Hellionz]

Wow! Wonder what kind of $$$ that's gonna bring in folks that did buy one? $88.03 I don't think everyone will get that. Interesting.

[gozoner]

Some numbers of 2012 '40 mpg' cars show how Hyundai MPG is a fraud, in the real world. Notice that our CR-Zs get an average mpg that is better then the EPA highway numbers, one of the few cars to do that (based on fuelly numbers, CT200h and Insight are the others).



Of course, the penalty is nothing. Estimated ~$100 refund on, what, a typical $20,000 car. And, the payment is based on current mileage; not the mileage over the life of a car (which, probably, might not be so many miles anyway...).

Hope nobody here was suckered by the fraudulent MPG numbers.

[ShazzNADES]

Something similar happened with the old hybrid Civic. Probably why the newer Hondas are under rated.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

[bheinen74]

Maybe if the US gov't didn't require ethanol, these cars would be getting legit posted mpg.
Maybe the gov't is the reason, why not sue the epa instead.
No food and corn for gas.
<-----yes i am from Iowa, and no i do not use ethanol unless it is the only option, and even then i will drive to another station.

Raising the speed limits are not going to help this either.

[ITEM9]

lingerer

[cyeung]

Yeah, I've always been against the ethanol mandate. We should be growing things to feed ourselves, first and foremost. Anything that would have been wasted, of course, is fair game.

Regarding ethanol's impact on MPG, we first note that pure gasoline contains 46.4 MJ/kg, whereas 10% gasohol contains 43.54 MJ/kg (reference 1). I am using weight here because it is not affected by temperature. That is a 6% difference.

I actually filled up my vehicle with Ethanol-free fuel this year a few times to see what the impact is on fuel economy. It was almost 10% improvement, but that was quickly erased by the additional cost and inconvenience.

Raising the speed limit indeed won't help either, because the power required to overcome aerodynamic drag is a cubic function. That is, it would take you eight times the power to overcome wind resistance going 50 mph as opposed to 25 mph.

Given those things, back to topic. Apparently, 40 MPG is the magic number to wow people. We all knew that Hyundai/Kia was full of # when they advertised their cars to have 40 MPG. But, what they are doing to make up for it deserves credit. My understanding is that they are willing to pay for the difference in fuel economy for as long as you own the vehicle (see reference 2).

Reference 1: Energy density - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reference 2: Hyundai, Kia admit exaggerated mileage claims, will compensate owners [UPDATE]

[CR-Z Canadian]

^
I have to question the "deserves credit" part.
Pretending to be shocked at the "mistake"' and offering compensation after they were essentially caught, is hardly worthy of praise. Damage mitigation is more the phrase I would use. It is probably calculated by lawyers and actuaries, as the equivalent of damages a court would order after a successful class action, moreso than a magnanamous gesture to their customers. IMHO, anyway.

[gozoner]

"Owners will be compensated based on their vehicles' odometer readings, and both automakers will contribute an additional 15 percent over the dollar value."

Unless the refund applies for X years in the future, it does not include future mileage.

"Hyundai CEO John Krafcik [...] blamed "procedural errors" in the company's fuel economy testing"

Owners better hope there weren't 'procedural errors' in the construction of the engine and other components. Or it was just straight fraud, nabbed.

Next will be the law suit about the incorrect reading of the on-board computer display of Hyundai MPG. The OBD seems to add ~3 mpg; convenient, surely another 'procedural error.'

[wicked1]

They're simply young capitalists... They'll try to screw over the consumer every way possible until caught several times.. just like all the US manufacturers have done.

My last car was a hyundai, and while I know nothing of its MPG, it was reliable. I never even changed the oil in the 8 years I owned it! (was not in to cars in the slightest, at the time)