FuelEconomy.gov is the website used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to aid consumers in getting the most fuel efficiency in their driving and to find the most fuel efficient new cars to purchase, based on the agency’s Corporate Average Fuel Eonomy (CAFE) standards.
But a couple of Top 10 lists posted on the site raise questions about whether anybody with any common sense is left at EPA. The lists are intended to help consumers buy used cars that are the most fuel efficient among all models sold in the U.S. since 1985.
But, as Examiner.com’s John Matras points out, it may have seemed like a good idea at one time, but the execution by EPA leaves everything to be desired. One of the list ranks the top 10 most fuel efficient, as ranked on EPA’s CAFE ratings since 1985, while the second list purports to include the 10 most efficient cars in “real world economy” solid since that year.
“Both are phony lists however, or at least based on phony premises and those on several levels,” Matras writes. “The most obvious is that, as a guide to purchasing, the EPA list is almost completely useless. Only three of the top ten vehicles are 2010 models. That is, those are the only models available new and that the consumer can have the confidence in reliability that only a new car can provide. On the other hand, four of the models are from the 1980s. Good luck finding a low-miles creampuff in that crowd.”
But wait, there’s more. You can read the rest of Matras’ critique and review the EPA lists here. Matras, by the way, is a professional independent automotive journalist who has covered the industry for more than two decades.
