Your EPA-Estimated Mileage is Lying to You

If you've ever bought a car from a dealer, whether it be new or used, it always comes with a window sticker that tells you just about everything about the car, including features, maybe a rating out of five stars, and most importantly to people cognizant of gas prices and miles per gallon, an EPA-estimated mileage rating. It may say something like 28, 25/31. Those numbers represent mpg in the city (25), mpg on the highway (31), and an average of the two as a "combined" fuel economy rating.

At first glance, you may come up to a car with the power you shouldn't have, the features you want, the safety you need, the right price for the whole package, and a great gas mileage, as expressed by the EPA on that window sticker, but after owning it for a month, you realize that you don't have that much money and you need the fuel economy it isn't delivering. Your window sticker claimed the car could achieve 24 miles per gallon in the city and 29 miles per gallon on the highway, and you're only seeing 18 in the city and 27 on the highway. Annoying, isn't it?

What's interesting about this entire situation is that the answer as to why you aren't getting the mileage out of your fill-up is and has been sitting under our noses the entire time. That rating posted on the window sticker is an EPA estimate for your gas mileage. It may be based off of some tests, but in most urban areas, there are always ever-changing traffic lights with nauseating stop-and-go traffic, and sometimes there is a legitimate reason to drop two gears and abscond from your current position in traffic (especially here in Miami, where driving is like a living nightmare at times). The people who may or may not run these "tests" to determine an EPA-estimated fuel economy for a new car are likely really skinny chaps who hop into the car, turn off the AC, shut all windows, and then take the car out into the most desolate city and highway on the freaking planet. And if they don't run a test, they probably just look at the car, stick a pencil halfway up their butts, sip their Earl Grey, and then pull a few exaggerated numbers out of their armpits. Execution? Meh.

The whole point is that there is almost no way you will be able to rack up the EPA-estimated gas mileage. Granny driving, AC off, windows up, and a lot of neutral coasting would be in order to achieve it, if not exceed it. For example, my CX-5 was advertised as 25/31. To this day, for all 485 miles that I've driven it, I've only averaged 19.5 mpg. Since I put $15 in the tank today, I've only managed 20 mpg, including a very short highway drive and 11 miles in the city. Not exactly impressive compared to what I was looking forward to.

I have a stock fuel mileage estimate gauge in my car, but if you don't, here's how you can calculate your fuel mileage: the next time you fill up, write down how many miles are on the odometer. That way, the next time you go put fuel in the bus, you can subtract the old mileage from your new mileage to find out how far you've gone. Then, divide that number by the amount of gallons it took to fill your tank. That, right there, is your very own calculation of your car's fuel mileage since you last topped off.

As much as I don't like saying it, the reality is that dealers may lie to improve sales, drivers may lie to improve their reputations, VW may lie to cover up its diesel emissions, and the EPA may lie to improve its statistics, but math, for the most part, never lies. And that's coming from a kid who hated Algebra 2 last year.

Written Content: 
Connor Sahs