Ford has released revised fuel consumption numbers for the C-Max Hybrid, C-Max Energi, Fiesta, Fusion Energi, Fusion Hybrid, and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. The errors in the original specs were discovered during internal testing.
Ford has estimated that close to 13,000 vehicles from the 2013-14 year have been sold in Canada (200,000 in the U.S.) under these erroneous fuel consumption numbers. Ford intends to rectify the problem with customers by compensating leased and purchase customers with a monetary gesture between the ranges of $125-$1,800.
The issue would be found in its “Total Road Load Horsepower” (TRLHP), a resistance level used in vehicle dynamometer testing. The TRLHP testing for some of their model didn’t match the values applied for the dynamometer testing.
After assessing the problem and going through the tests again, Ford notified the EPA on their newly-known data and provided them with the new fuel economy numbers for five of their vehicles, including one Lincoln. All of the other vehicles had no change in fuel economy. Further, Ford has now implemented an enhanced validation test to prevent this error from reoccurring in other future vehicles. Ford has had a rough couple of months with the recall of last month and now the error in fuel economy.