Three-quarters of Australia’s new cars use more fuel than advertised lab rating, testing shows | Transport

Another 10 cars have failed to live up to fuel efficiency promises when tested in the real world, adding to Australia’s difficulties in reducing emissions from transport.

The Australian Automobile Association’s latest test confirmed 76% of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles are still using more fuel on roads than in mandatory lab testing.

The AAA tested 141 petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles on roads under strict protocols around Geelong, Victoria, with federal government funding.

GWM’s Tank 300 used 25% more fuel per 100km in the real world than in the laboratory, test results released on Wednesday show. Honda’s HR-V used 19% more fuel and Hyundai’s Santa Fe used 11% more.

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Previous tests found GWM’s Haval H6 and Haval Jolian Hybrid used more fuel than advertised but its Haval Jolian 3023 was more fuel-efficient than laboratory testing had found.

Cars that had higher emissions on roads than they did in the lab could make the government’s efforts to reduce vehicle emissions less effective, the AAA’s managing director, Michael Bradley, said.

“We need to make sure the emissions reductions aren’t just happening in a laboratory,” he said.

Carmakers are required to test emissions for each vehicle they sell and face penalties if they exceed emissions limits across their combined annual sales, under the Albanese government’s new vehicle efficiency standard (NVES).

Just two in three regulated vehicle suppliers achieved their emissions target for 2025, the government reported last week. Those who did not, including Mazda, Nissan and Subaru, face potential penalties of up to $25m.

Bradley said the AAA’s testing could independently track whether companies’ real-world emissions reductions stacked up with their NVES and laboratory claims.

Prof Dongke Zhang, an energy expert at the University of Western Australia, said motorists would often use more petrol than advertised by their car’s manufacturer, making it difficult to compare lab tests and real-world testing.

But Bradley said the program had found no pattern behind the performance gap, with a minority of models even proving more fuel-efficient on roads than in labs.

“There’s no rule of thumb here for consumers, there’s no fudge factor they can bake into consumer decisions,” Bradley said.

The AAA has also tested nine battery electric vehicles, none of which have delivered their promised range.

Wednesday’s report added another two electric vehicles to that list: the BMW iX1 electric SUV could travel 360km on a full battery, despite its advertised range of 400km, a 10% gap.

The BYD Seal had an advertised range of 650km but was found to travel just 488km, a 25% gap. Previous testing of BYD’s Atto 3 found a 23% gap between its lab-tested and real world-tested range.

Australia has been slower to adopt EVs than other countries, with EVs making up 12% of new sales in the second half of last year. Bradley said the testing could give buyers more confidence in the true range of an EV they were buying.

“They are worried about range anxiety, they are worried about black spots in the regional network, they are worried about access to fast chargers in their neighbourhood,” he said.

“They really need to know what the exact range of a new car is.”