Almost 2x as efficient as the US version?
A new Web site is targeting Ford in the US as offering the worst fleet-wide fuel efficiency and the highest average vehicle greenhouse gas emissions of major US carmakers.
With fuel efficiency climbing both personal and political agendas, prompted both by long-term trends of increasing prices and concern over greenhouse gas emissions, the site asks why Ford's vehicles in Europe get so much better mileage than in the US.
Part of the answer might be because they're not comparing apples with apples -- the US gallon is 10 per cent smaller than the UK gallon, and the tests that result in the consumption figures are not identical -- but the comparison table still makes interesting reading:
Ford United Kingdom |
|
Ford USA |
|
Model |
MPG (urban/extra-urban) |
Model |
MPG (city/hwy) |
Ford Focus |
49.6 / 57.6 |
Ford Focus |
26 / 34 |
Ford Fusion |
61.4 combined |
Ford Fusion |
23 / 31 |
Ford Galaxy |
42.8 combined |
Ford Freestar |
18 / 24 |
Ford Ka |
32.1 / 51.4 |
Ford Escape Hybrid |
36 / 31 |
Ford Mondeo |
34.5 / 57.7 |
Ford Taurus |
20 / 27 |
Specifically, JumpStart Ford has accused Ford of the following:
- Ford has the worst greenhouse gas pollution performance of all the Big Six Automakers. (From Automaker Rankings 2004, a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists)
- The overall average fuel efficiency of Ford’s fleet today is 19.1 mpg, dead last among the major automakers according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Since the oil crisis of the 1970s, Ford has ranked worst in overall fuel efficiency of all major automakers for 20 out of the last 30 years.
- From subcompacts to SUVs, Ford’s current car and truck fleet gets fewer miles per gallon on average today than its Model-T did 80 years ago.
- In 2003, Ford broke its promise to America to increase SUV fuel-efficiency 25 per cent by 2005.
- Ford is fighting federal and state efforts to improve emissions standards and implement fuel efficiency market incentives.
- Ford is supporting the filing of a federal lawsuit to overturn California's popular new vehicle emissions standards, the nation's first-ever law of any kind to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to global warming and the most advanced automotive GHG reduction targets in the world.
- Ford dismantled its electric and natural gas vehicle programs, including the popular all-electric, zero-gasoline, zero emissions Th!nk City cars and Ranger EV pickup trucks.
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