In the US, pretty much everyone knows that EPA fuel-economy standards are basically hokum, only a rule of thumb to go by when comparing one car to another rather than a real-world guide to actual mileage. The blokes at What Car? decided to see just how realistic fuel-consumption ratings in the UK are and found out that if Britons are dumb enough to believe the specs, they're spending an additional 200 million per year over what the calculated cost of operation would be if the cars hewed to the standards in real-world driving. Of 85 cars surveyed, only 5 hit the mark, with the biggest discrepancy in the Prius, which came in 14mpg lower than rated. And those are Imperial gallons. D'oh.
200m fuel gap detected on new cars [Scotsman, UK]
Related:
Red Ken at it Again: Livingstone Proposes Higher London Congestion Tax for Petrol-Hungry Vehicles [Internal]