Especially with these brands, your car consumes more than you think

Your car’s gasoline and diesel consumption is probably higher than stated by the manufacturer. New research from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), an independent American institute, shows that the difference between actual and stated consumption is increasing.

The study compares the manufacturers’ consumption information with the information provided by consumers on the Spritmonitor website. This German platform has a huge database storing consumer consumption figures.

The gap between book and practice

The difference between the gasoline or diesel (or LPG) your car uses, depending on the platform, and the consumption declared by the manufacturer was 8 percent in 2018. The gap between book and practice has now become even larger.

The research shows that the difference is more than 14 percent. This means that the reduction in fuel consumption and emissions is significantly smaller than the European Union thinks. Between 2018 and 2022, the consumption of fuels such as gasoline and diesel fell by 7.3 percent. At least according to the EU. The research shows that the actual decline is only 2.3 percent.

According to ICCT, the difference between the actual values ​​and the consumption stated by the manufacturer has grown by 80 percent. What is noticeable is that for some brands the difference is significantly greater than for others.

Brands with (in)accurate consumption information

For example, cars from the Volkswagen Group performed relatively well in the test with a difference of 12 percent. Opel and Hyundai perform significantly worse than in the book, with 21 and 20 percent more consumption respectively. Mercedes-Benz has the most accurate consumption values ​​with a deviation of 11 percent.