Why is my car not getting the advertised mpg?

My Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost is not doing the miles per gallon it should. I'm only getting 40mpg to 45mpg. Why is this?

Asked on 13 July 2018 by M gwynne

Answered by Georgia Petrie
Unfortunately official figures often claim a vehicle can get better fuel economy than it actually can achieve. This is partly due to the NEDC, the test regime that cars go through to test their MPG capabilities. This was proven to be inaccurate because many of the conditions didn't account for real-life driving situations - i.e. road conditions, weather, temperature changes etc. New cars will soon need to be tested under the new WLTP after August 31, so MPG figures should be more realistic on newer cars. In your case, our Real MPG section should be able to advise what you can realistically get based on other drivers' submissions. For a Ford Focus 1.0-litre 125PS Ecoboost, Real MPG shows that 41.6 mpg is about average (www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-2014). So, while that isn't the advertised economy figure of 60.1 mpg, it isn't unusual. Better quality petrol might offer better MPG though.
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