LOS ANGELES—Honda’s Civic Hybrid may get better mileage, but two Volkswagens beat it to a list of energy-efficient vehicles by being faster to get tested for fuel economy.
The federal list of the nation’s most efficient vehicles, released Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy, is becoming increasingly important to car shoppers as fuel costs rise.
But the Honda Civic Hybrid didn’t make this year’s list of 2006 models, despite fuel economy behind only that of the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius.
In the Civic’s place, sharing the number three spot on the list, were the manual, diesel-powered versions of the Volkswagen Beetle and Golf, according to the list released Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.
Nevermind that the Civic Hybrid is rated at 49 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, compared to the Volkwagens’ rating 37 mpg city and 44 highway.
Honda spokesman Sage Marie said the problem is that the car wasn’t ready for EPA testing until after the agency’s cutoff.
“It was just tested and certified a couple days ago, which was not in time,” Marie said. “Frequently cars will undergo adjustments and fine-tuning up until the last minute, and frankly even after cars go on sale.”
The government plans to eventually update its list online to include the Civic, EPA spokesman John Millett said. He said he didn’t think the exclusion would hurt the automaker’s sales.
“Honda has a good reputation with respect to fuel economy,” he said.
The list has long been the subject of consumer complaints that the federal rankings overestimate vehicles’ efficiency, especially when drivers’ real-world habits, such as speeding or not filling up tires, decrease efficiency.
Honda’s loss was Ford’s gain: The Civic’s exclusion allowed the Ford Escape SUV to become the only vehicle by an American company to crack the top five.
Another Volkswagen, the manual, diesel version of the Jetta, took the number four spot. If not for the missing Civic, the top five would have been ruled by Hondas, Volkswagens, and the Prius.
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On the Net:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/