gas mileage

MPG Fraud : Another Day, Another Lawyer’s Payday?

by

I was wading through my inbox this morning when an interesting advertisement screamed from the sidebar. The advertisement was from McCuneWright, LLP a Redlands, California-based law firm that’s looking to capitalize on the current MPG (mile per gallon) craze. Apparently, McCuneWright “has filed Federal class action lawsuits against General Motors, LLC, and Hyundai Motor America, for affirmatively misleading advertising of estimated miles per gallon fuel efficiency.” While I’ve grown blind to inbox ads, this couldn’t help but catch my eye … having devoted the last five years of my life to the study of real-world fuel efficiency.

It’s not exactly clear what McCuneWright is after, other than a significant chunk of fees. Yes, a number of manufacturers are stating the highway MPG figure in their advertising and marketing materials, rather than the combined figure. Are they putting undue emphasis on this? Or is the problem more at the local level, where car dealers control the advertising? Can the manufacturers be blamed for lousy radio commercials, banners in dealership windows, billboards, and local newspapers ads – all placed and paid for by the dealerships?

What about the guy that scrawls stuff on the windshields of the cars on the dealership lot? Will his shoe polish hand lettering be drawn into a class-action suit?

Read more

Asking for Direction(s)

by

I’ve had a great ride with MPGomatic over the last five years or so. Every day, I ask myself … how many folks are truly able to follow their vision and live the dream? I know how fortunate I’ve been. This little fuel-efficiency focused website was started on a shoestring budget and it’s ridden the waves up and down. The primary purpose of this site is to reduce our nation’s reliance on imported petroleum (while helping to slash the amount of cash you splash on gasoline each week) – not make the maximum amount of money we could make, at all cost. While we were never able to grow at the rate we needed to grow, we were able to cover expenses for a long time. We never needed or sought outside funding.

Read more

Gas Mileage: First and Foremost

by

MPGomatic produces car review videos with a focus on fuel-efficiency, in-cabin technology, and drivability along with reports on motorsports and alternative fuels. Our goal is to help eliminate our Nation’s reliance on imported petroleum, while spurring the production of domestic renewable fuels.

Car-after-car, we demonstrate that not only is it possible to meet the official EPA fuel economy estimates, but that these numbers can be exceeded – often by a significant margin – simply by driving conscientiously.

Hyundai Veloster Eco Driving Information Display

Read more

2013 Window Stickers Deliver Less MPG Information

by

We’ve taken a big step backwards. The new 2013 window stickers deliver less information on fuel economy than their predecessors. I’d reckon that the EPA had good intent when they redesigned the stickers (aka: Monroneys), but the end result is that new vehicle shoppers will be short changed. The new design does deliver more graphical information, but it has lost two key pieces of crucial information.

The new slider graphics for Fuel Economy / Greenhouse Gas Rating and Smog Rating are welcome additions for buyers interested in the environmental impacts of the vehicle. At a glance, these sliders show how the vehicle stacks up against all other vehicles. The ratings for the manual transmission-equipped front-wheel-drive 2013 Mazda CX-5 (as shown below), clearly indicate how the little Crossover fares when compared to every vehicle on the market – not just those in its class. (Never mind that the top end of the scale represents vehicles that will not fit the needs of a Crossover buyer.)

2013 Mazda CX-5 window sticker MPG info

Read more

The Chevy Malibu Eco’s MPG Rating: Is it High Enough?

by

Chevrolet took a gamble by rolling out the fuel economy focused 2013 Malibu Eco before the other Malibu models. In the eyes of some in the media horde, it was bad bet. All it took was a biased piece by an old-school automotive journalist – a long-time employee of a bastion of conventional media – to set the lemming fish marching. With post quotas to fill, they quickly piled on, throwing numbers into the fray. As if that would turn a subjective editorial into fact.

To this I say, how many hours did you spend in both the 2013 Malibu Eco and its predecessor, the Malibu Hybrid? I spent plenty in both cars, along with the 2010 Malibu LT. And I spent plenty of my own hard-earned cash on the gasoline for our extensive road tests. No expense accounts here.

Read more