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by safgasCVS 2201 days ago
Don’t single Tesla out on this. No car manages to get its official mpg/EPA rating in real-world driving conditions. Some get closer than others and some manufacturers (eg Fiat) designed their motors in a way that maximises their performance on standardised tests. The gap between how ‘hard’ the car has to work to achieve the real world driving conditions vs test conditions plays a big part in the differential. Smaller motors with forced inductions are the worst offenders. Larger motors are more honest citizens.
2 comments

>Don’t single Tesla out on this. No car manages to get its official mpg/EPA rating in real-world driving conditions.

It totally depends on the vehicle. I maintain a fleet of ~10 vehicles and keep records of fuel economy (because it tells me when calipers stick before the drivers do). The vehicles get ridden decently hard and pretty much all the highway miles are in the left lane at whatever speed that may be. A 2/3 majority pretty much always exceed their EPA rating by 2-4mpg. The rest are right on the rating. None of them spend much time in the gridlock that tends to characterize upscale inner suburbs during daylight hours nor do they cruise empty rural highways.

My VW TDI consistently got better than EPA rated mileage ;)