Another round of on the road testing indicates efficiency standards and emissions from official lab tests cannot be relied upon, a peak motoring body says.
The AAA’s Real-World Testing Program found more than three quarters of cars use more fuel in their tests than the advertised laboratory fuel rates and one fifth exceed emissions limits.
These findings complicate the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, in its first month in July because the new fleets of all OEMS coming into Australia will be measured on their official fuel efficiency and emissions.
In the latest round of tests from the government funded AAA program, it found 25 of the latest 30 cars tested consumed more fuel than advertised, making the error rate a total of 77 per cent of the 114 popular cars, vans and utes tested in two years since August 2023.
Overstated
AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley says the program seeks to reward carmakers that deliver genuine financial and environmental savings but most do not.
“It’s becoming clear that carmakers continue to optimise their vehicles’ performance for lab testing, meaning new cars are too often over-stating their improvements in fuel use and environmental performance,” he says.
The AAA Program’s scope will next month expand with the release of its first electric vehicle results, checking the distance vehicles can travel on a single charge in real driving conditions.
In the latest round of tests, the Hyundai Kona Hybrid recorded the greatest discrepancy, using 33% more fuel on-road than in its laboratory test, with the Kia Stonic (26% more fuel), Hyundai i30 Hybrid (17%), Toyota Fortuner (16%), and the Kia Sportage Hybrid (14%) rounding out the top five for discrepancies recorded (Full list of results below).
Batteries are next
The AAA Real-World Testing Program was created following the global Volkswagen scandal of 2015, which demonstrated that regulation of vehicle emissions incentivises carmakers to optimise laboratory performance.