Ford Lowers Hybrid Fuel Economy Ratings Again

Ford Motor Co. is trimming 1-7 miles per gallon from the stated U.S. mileage ratings for its six 2013-2104 hybrid models.

The company says it overstated the ratings because of an error correlating wind tunnel data and coastdown tests of engineering models to calculate total road load horsepower.

Ford will pay some 200,000 owners and lessees of the affected vehicles between $125 and $1,050 each to cover the gap in their estimated fuel costs.

Last summer Ford lowered the combined fuel economy rating for its C-Max hybrid MPV to 43 mpg from 47 mpg after complains from customers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This time the model's rating has been reduced to 40 mpg.

The smallest of the new adjustments 1 mpg is for the Ford Fiesta minicar equipped with a 1.0-liter turbocharged 3-cylinder engine or 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine. The largest change is for the Lincoln MKZ sedan, whose fuel economy average drops to 38 mpg from 45 mpg.

Ford says it reported the discrepancies to EPA, which monitored re-tests for the vehicles. The company will not pay fines for the errors, but it agreed with the agency to help improve tests for future models.