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Return of Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger is back for the first time since 2011, but it is a truck very different from the one you remember and filled with the latest technology. Gary Gastelu, editor of Fox News Autos, traveled to Jamul, California, to find out if he's good.
Ford Motor Co. launched an investigation to determine if it had overstated gasoline consumption and underestimated emissions from a wide range of vehicles.
The company said that in September, a group of employees reported problems with a mathematical model used to calculate pollution and mileage, forcing them to use an outside firm to perform tests. The trials will start with the 2019 Ford Ranger van and, if problems arise, the company will start looking for 2017 models.
Ford claims to have no proof yet that mileage or pollution figures are wrong, but the investigation has just begun. The company said it was too early to say how many and which models might be involved.
FORD RANGER 2019 TEST TRAINING
Depending on what is found, Ford may have to rephrase the mileage on EPA approved window decals and reimburse the owners for the difference in mileage. The company could also be sanctioned by government agencies.
"At Ford, we believe that trust in our brand is earned by acting with integrity and transparency," said Kim Pittel, vice president of the company responsible for environmental and safety techniques, on Thursday. "We have a process to examine our performance and our behavior in our vast and complex society."
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, which monitor emissions and mileage, have been informed of the probe, according to the company.
The EPA said in a statement that Ford unveiled the problems on Tuesday.
"The investigation is ongoing and the information is too incomplete for the EPA to draw any conclusions," the agency said. "We take potential issues very seriously and follow up with the company to fully understand the circumstances of this disclosure."
The problems do not involve the "defeat device" software that activates pollution controls for emissions tests and disables them on the road, according to Ford. For years, Volkswagen has been using a chess device to fool diesel emission tests until they are captured by academic researchers and a non-profit organization. Ford said the investigation focused on gasoline powered vehicles.
In an interview, Pittel said that it was too early to say how widespread the problem was or whether it went beyond the 2017 models. "We're just going to go where the problem is. investigation leads us, "she said. "We will be very, very careful."
Most emissions and mileage tests are done by automakers and their accuracy is checked by the EPA and California. The tests are carried out on a dynamometer, which is a treadmill-like device, and the mathematical model calculates the "load on the road", which results from wind resistance, rolling resistance of the tires, resistance to motor driven devices and other factors.
"We have identified potential problems with the way we calculate the load of the road," Pittel said.
If problems arise, it will not be the first time that Ford will have to reformulate its kilometers. In 2014, the Dearborn, Michigan company had to reduce sticker mileage on six models and pay thousands of dollars to more than 200,000 owners after errors were discovered in the mileage calculation. The company said the latest numbers are not related to the 2014 problems. The company also had to redefine its mileage on the gasoline-electric C-Max hybrid in 2013.
The Ford business came after a 2012 survey by the EPA revealed an inflated mileage on 13 Hyundai and Kia models, affecting 900,000 vehicles.
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