The car manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen has announced plans to publish ‘real world’ figures for fuel economy and emissions for their most popular cars.
With help from the non-government environmental group Transport & Environment, PSA Peugeot Citroen says it will conduct a new testing procedure in “real driving conditions”. Fuel economy figures for cars from the Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands based on this new procedure will be published by spring 2016. The emissions figures from these tests, however, are not expected to be ready until spring 2017.
The French carmaker added that all the data gained from the new tests would be audited and checked by an external third party.
For many years, manufacturers have traditionally acquired official fuel economy and emission output figures from tests conducted in a laboratory, featuring a rolling road. The tests are designed to assess cars under different conditions, resulting in three distinct fuel economy figures. However, these numbers are often greater than what owners of the car will realistically achieve in the real world driving conditions.
This new plan by PSA Peugeot Citroen to conduct new real world tests has been arranged to reassure consumers that their cars are as efficient as they claim them to be.
The plan is also in all probability a response to the intense scrutiny which manufacturers are facing around the authenticity of their official economy and emission figures, particularly in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
