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Vehicle testing

On April 1, 2009 the Government of Canada announced that new Passenger Automobile and Light Truck Greenhouse Gas Emission Regulations would be developed to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the automotive sector under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), 1999.  Beginning in model year 2011, the motor vehicle industry will submit data to Environment Canada. As a result, on March 31, 2010 Transport Canada’s Fuel Consumption Program (FCP) ended.

The FCP conducts independent fuel consumption testing on a selection of vehicles available for sale in Canada. Both the manufacturers and the FCP use the Federal Test Procedure.

Testing process

The following is a brief overview of the testing process that is followed during the audit testing.

  • Prior to testing, each vehicle goes through a mileage accumulation process, which consists of driving the vehicle for 3,500 km on a specific route, at specific speeds, using the same driver.

  • Once the mileage accumulation has been completed, the fuel is drained and replaced with a standardized test fuel that has a known carbon content. The vehicle is left to soak in the lab for a prescribed time period. Soaking is a term used to describe the process of making sure that all of the equipment is at a constant temperature before testing begins. The vehicle's evaporative system is filled with butane gas and is left to soak for another prescribed time period. The vehicle is now ready for testing.

  • The vehicle is brought into a test cell where the driving wheels are mounted on a dynamometer – a machine that simulates the average forces acting on a vehicle when it is driven on the road. A monitor is set-up in front of the driver, and the exhaust pipe is connected to a Constant Volume Sampler (CVS). A trained driver starts the engine and drives the vehicle on the dynamometer while closely following a pre-determined pattern. Any deviation of +/- 3.2 km (2 mi) from the established pattern voids the test. At pre-determined intervals, exhaust gases are collected from the CVS. The expelled carbon compounds are analyzed and the fuel consumption numbers are calculated. This fuel consumption information can be validated against the values provided by the manufacturer, to verify accuracy.
Date modified:
2012-03-08