The Blue Oval identified an error with fuel economy ratings for certain vehicles through internal testing, notifying the EPA about the findings. After the agency itself retested the vehicles, Ford announced that it will make goodwill payments to owners of approximately 200,000 U.S. vehicles for the difference between economy ratings.
According to the official press release, Ford's error was specific to a factor called "Total Road Load Horsepower." TRLHP is a vehicle-specific resistance level used in dynamometer testing, which determines fuel economy ratings of new cars. After a recent test of the Fusion Hybrid, Ford found the TRLHP did not match the values used for the dynamometer testing.
Naturally, engineers begged the question "Is this the only model affected by this error?" In order to answer the query, each and every model wearing the Blue Oval and Lincoln badges has been put through the test to prevent reoccurrence of this error. Six models have been rated wrongfully, with the difference between old and new ratings averaging only one mile per gallon on the combined cycle.
The models identified to be affected by this economy rating error are the 2014 Ford Fiesta, 2013 - 2014 C-Max, Fusion and Lincoln MKZ hybrids, as well as the C-Max and Fusion Plug-in Energi hybrids. Every lease customer/owner will be awarded with a goodwill payment for this error, ranging from $125/$200 for the Ford Fiesta 1.0-liter GTDI all the way to $625/1,050 for the upmarket Lincoln MKZ Hybrid.
Affected lessees and owners will be contacted by their local Ford representatives, but you can quicken the process by contacting the customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332 or by visiting www.ford.com/mpglabel.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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