PSA Group releases real-world fuel consumption results
PSA Group has published the results of real-world fuel consumption tests for 30 Peugeot, Citroën and DS models.
Measurements were made on public roads open to traffic and under real-life driving conditions -- including passenger and luggage loads, road gradients, and the use of air-conditioning systems.
The move comes in response to "collapsing consumer confidence in car testing", PSA Group said.
Based on the European Union's Real Driving Emissions (RDE) project, the test procedure measures fuel consumption by means of a portable emissions measurement system (PEMS) installed on the vehicle.
According to the manufacturer, the results are comparable to those reported by PSA customers in independent customer surveys, showing that the test procedure is scientifically robust, reproducible and representative of a typical driver.
Models tested include the Peugeot 208 1.6l BlueHDi 120 S&S BVM5, which has an official fuel economy figure of 94.1mpg but achieved 60.1mpg in the real-world test. The 308 1.6l BlueHDi 120 S&S BVM6 officially achieves 88.2mpg but recorded 57.6mpg in real-world conditions.
Among the Citroën models tested, the C4 Picasso BlueHDi 120 S&S EAT6 has an official fuel economy figure of 72.4mpg but achieved 43.4mpg in the real-world test.
PSA Group plans to publish figures for another 20 models by the end of the year and introduce an online simulator that allows customers to predict a vehicle's fuel consumption based on driving style and conditions (such as city/country/motorway mix and vehicle load). It will also release an eco-driving application to help drivers manage their fuel consumption.
Next year, the car maker will extend measurements to pollutant emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in customer driving conditions.
