Editorial: Mileage can lull car buyers, too

Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2006 | 8:17 a.m.

The average fuel economy for all cars, SUVs, minivans and pickups in the country is about 24 miles per gallon. Or so we are told by the Environmental Protection Agency, whose mileage ratings appear on the stickers of all new cars.

But the EPA has not changed the way it calculates the mileage for new cars in 20 years. Even back in the mid-1980s buyers of new cars would scoff at the official mileage ratings, as they rarely, if ever, panned out. The way ordinary people drive has always been far different than the EPA's testing standards. An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the EPA, in testing new cars, underestimates how much time people spend idling in traffic, assumes that people won't go more than 56 mph in the city and 60 mph on the highway and also assumes that drivers will not accelerate by more than 3.3 miles per second.

Today, with congestion on big-city roads having increased well beyond anything experienced in the 1980s, and with drivers more aggressive and speed-oriented, the mileage estimates are even more off the mark than they were 20 years ago.

This month the agency will propose changes to the way it tests automobiles to determine their mileage ratings. Its goal is to have its new method approved in time for more accurate ratings to appear on the stickers of 2007 cars. Talk about sticker shock.

The EPA is warning that if its testing changes go through, stickers are almost guaranteed to show much lower mileage ratings. Drivers could find the mileage on their favorite models down by 10 miles per gallon or more. Drivers who prefer SUVs and pickup trucks are in for a wake-up call.

We believe the EPA should change its testing method for two reasons. One, consumers should be receiving accurate information. And, two, the federal government requires the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard of about 24 mpg. If realistic mileages are reported by the EPA, the auto makers will be forced to make more fuel-efficient automobiles to meet the average for all vehicles.

This would improve air quality and greatly reduce the country's per-person consumption of oil, which exceeds all other nations' by far. There's a lot to be gained by giving new-car buyers accurate information about how much gas they will be using.