Fuel economy
Why fuel economy is important
Most vehicles run on petrol and diesel and there isn’t an endless supply of ‘fossil’ fuels. This is a problem in view of the high energy use of the transport sector: transport accounts for 44% of national energy consumption with passenger transport making up 57% of that.
This problem is being tackled in a number of ways. Alternative fuels are being researched. Biofuels are becoming available at the fuel pump – check with the manufacturer whether your car is compatible. New technology is also being developed to make the engines more efficient. There are more ‘hybrid’ cars on the market that can be switched between electric battery power and conventional fuel. There is a new interest in small diesel-powered cars.
A more fuel efficient vehicle also makes personal sense – the less fuel you use, the more money in your pocket. The way that you drive and maintain your vehicle is also important with regard to fuel economy. For more information see our linked website Fuelsaver.govt.nz.
How the ratings are obtained
The fuel consumption ratings on this website are obtained in the same way as on Fuelsaver.govt.nz.
- The fuel consumption ratings are based on test data provided when the vehicle was manufactured.
- Vehicles are assigned a star rating based on fuel consumption to identify the best performers (those with the most stars), the worst performers, and average performers.
Fuel economy ratings are allocated so that a petrol vehicle will normally receive the same number of stars for both fuel economy and CO2 (carbon dioxide).
Fuel economy standards
Fuel economy for vehicles tested to Japanese standards (this includes most Japanese used imports and some new vehicles) is adjusted to the equivalent European value before being used to calculate ratings and annual costs.
Japanese and European tests for fuel economy use different conditions resulting in different values for the same vehicle. The conversion function used to do this has been built based on a comparison of Japanese and European fleets followed by review of data available for vehicles that have been tested to both standards.
Japan is beginning to adopt similar testing approaches to the European standard, which will eventually remove the need for this conversion.
Below the ratings on the comparison page, you can see the litre/100 km value and what this means in terms of annual fuel cost.
The annual cost is based on on a vehicle traveling 14,000 km over a year and the current national average petrol or diesel fuel price. Diesel costs include Road User Charges (RUC). You can refine this for your travel habits by following the link to Fuelsaver.govt.nz.
