The Fuel Consumption Testing Scheme            Cymraeg

The fuel consumption testing scheme is intended to give car buyers comparative information about the fuel consumption of different models in standard tests.

Nearly all new car models which are type approved for sale in Europe have to undergo the standard tests to determine their fuel consumption. This text contains the results of those tests supplied to the DfT for new cars expected to be on sale after May 2005.

WHAT ARE THE STANDARD TESTS?

Official fuel consumption test procedures have been in use since the 1970's. EU Directive 80/1268/EEC (as last amended by 2004/3/EC) describes the tests which the all new cars on sale after 1 January 2001 have been required to take.

FUEL CONSUMPTION TEST (Directive 80/1268/EEC as amended by 2004/3/EC)

The new test has been agreed internationally and provides results that are more representative of actual average on-road fuel consumption than previous tests. There are two parts: an urban and an extra-urban cycle. The test cycle is the same as that used to determine the official exhaust emission classification for the model of vehicle in question.

The cars tested have to be run in and must have been driven for at least 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometres) before testing.

Urban cycle
The urban test cycle is carried out in a laboratory at an ambient temperature of 20°C to 30°C on a rolling road from a cold start, i.e. the engine has not run for several hours. The cycle consists of a series of accelerations, steady speeds, decelerations and idling. Maximum speed is 31 mph (50 km/h), average speed 12 mph (19 km/h) and the distance covered is 2.5 miles (4 km). The cycle is shown as Part One in the diagram below.

Extra-urban cycle
This cycle is conducted immediately following the urban cycle and consists of roughly half steady-speed driving and the remainder accelerations, decelerations, and some idling. Maximum speed is 75 mph (120 km/h), average speed is 39 mph (63 km/h) and the distance covered is 4.3 miles (7 km). The cycle is shown as Part Two in the diagram below.

Combined Fuel Consumption Figure
The combined figure presented is for the urban and the extra-urban cycle together. It is therefore an average of the two parts of the test, weighted by the distances covered in each part.

BI-FUELLED VEHICLES

Vehicles which are designed to run on LPG or CNG and Petrol are required to be tested on both fuels. In view of this, two sets of figures will be shown for a given bi-fuel vehicle, one set for the vehicle running on petrol and another for the vehicle running on gas.