All-new Kia Picanto posts 29 km/l fuel eco in 2017 DOE run

Fuel economy is usually one of the factors that buyers consider when purchasing a brand new car. As such, the Department of Energy (DOE) organized a fuel economy run in order to gauge the efficiency of cars that are available in the local market.

The 2017 DOE fuel economy run has 2 categories: Diesel and Gas. For the Diesel category, the SsangYong Rodius managed to register the best fuel economy rating with 33.12 km/l. On the other hand, the all-new Kia Picanto is the most efficient gasoline powered car during the said eco run. Kia’s small hatchback posted a fuel economy rating of 29.23 km/l.

The Kia Picanto bested 26 other vehicles in the gasoline category including the Toyota Vios, Toyota Wigo, Suzuki Alto 800, and the Honda City. Kia fielded the Picanto GT-Line during the said eco run. It is equipped with a 1.2L Kappa gasoline engine. However, Kia Philippines has yet to confirm if the Picanto GT-Line is already available in the local market. We already contacted them regarding the issue.

The route of the 2017 DOE fuel economy run kicked off at the Petron station in Clark and passed through SCTEX-TPLEX until Binalonan. Then, the eco run head back to Clark for a total of 216 km.

The participating brands were allowed to provide their own drivers and had to maintain a speed of 80 km/h along the expressways. To ensure that the DOE guidelines for the run were followed, independent observers from the media joined the eco run.