What is ARAI Mileage vs Real Mileage? – Difference Explained

Every time an Indian buyer walks into a car showroom, the first question is almost always the same: “Kitna deti hai?”

The salesperson will point to a number on the brochure. 18 kmpl. 22 kmpl. Sometimes even 28 kmpl. Right next to it, in small print: “As per ARAI.”

Most buyers do not think twice about those three words. But they carry a lot of weight. The figure refers to a measurement taken in a controlled lab under near-ideal conditions. Your daily commute has traffic jams, AC running, potholes, and impatient braking. The ARAI test has none of that.

This article explains what ARAI mileage actually is, how the test works, why real-world mileage falls short, and how to calculate what you will realistically get based on how and where you drive.

What is ARAI Mileage?

ARAI stands for the Automotive Research Association of India. It is a government-affiliated testing and certification body set up in 1966 under the Ministry of Heavy Industries, with its headquarters in Pune. Every vehicle sold in India must pass through its testing process before it gets road approval.

ARAI tests vehicles for emissions compliance, crash standards, and component safety. As part of that process, it also measures fuel efficiency. The number that comes out is what manufacturers print in brochures and put up on dealer boards. That is the ARAI mileage figure.

It is not a promise. It is a benchmark. Think of it like the “up to 48 hours battery life” claim on a smartphone: useful for comparing products, not for planning your week.

What does “as per ARAI” mean on car brochures?

The asterisk next to mileage figures is a legal disclosure. It means the number came from the ARAI-certified test cycle, not from real-road measurement. Manufacturers are required to display this figure, but there is no requirement to explain its limitations prominently.

When a brochure says “22 kmpl*”, that asterisk is doing a lot of work. It points to a lab result that most drivers will never see on their fuel gauge.

Is ARAI mileage different for petrol, diesel, CNG, and EVs?

The same fundamental test applies to all fuel types. Petrol and diesel mileage is expressed in km per litre, CNG in km per kg, and EVs in km per charge. All go through a version of the Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC). EV range figures get a separate section below, because the real-world gap tends to be larger for electric vehicles.

How is ARAI Mileage Tested? The MIDC Explained

The test is called the Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC). It replaced the older Indian Driving Cycle (IDC), which only simulated urban traffic. The MIDC adds a higher-speed extra-urban phase, so the test now covers both city and highway conditions.

Here is what the test actually involves:

• The car sits on a chassis dynamometer, a roller-based platform where the drive wheels spin against rollers while the vehicle stays stationary.
• The test runs for about 20 minutes, covering a simulated distance of roughly 10 km.
• The average speed during the test is around 30 to 31 kmph. The maximum speed does not go above 90 kmph.
• Ambient temperature is controlled at 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. No peak summer heat, no monsoon humidity.
• The air conditioning is off throughout.
• Throttle inputs, braking, and gear changes are computer-controlled, not human-driven.
• Only new vehicles are tested.

Key point: The MIDC exists for standardisation, not simulation. Conditions are controlled so that every vehicle gets measured on identical terms. It is not designed to replicate a real Indian commute.

What is a chassis dynamometer?

A chassis dynamometer is essentially a treadmill for cars. The drive wheels rest on rollers, the engine runs, and sensors measure power and fuel drawn. The car does not move. It cannot replicate road texture, crosswind, or variable traffic loads, which is exactly where the lab number and your real number start to separate.

IDC vs MIDC: What changed?

The original Indian Driving Cycle only covered urban stop-start conditions. The Modified IDC added a highway phase with sustained higher speeds. Older articles you find online may only mention IDC; that is, the previous standard. India currently uses the MIDC for all new vehicle certification.

ARAI Mileage vs Real-World Mileage: How Big is the Gap?

Most Indian drivers get 20 to 35% less than the ARAI figure. City driving with the AC on produces the largest gap. Highway cruising at moderate speed comes closest.

Driving condition	Typical gap vs ARAI	Use 70% of the ARAI range for planning
Pure city (AC on, heavy traffic)	25 to 35% lower	Expect around 14 to 16 kmpl
Mixed city and highway (50:50)	20 to 25% lower	Expect around 16 to 18 kmpl
Highway (moderate speed)	10 to 20% lower	Expect around 18 to 20 kmpl
EV range (ARAI certified)	25 to 30% lower	Use 70% of ARAI range for planning

Real test data confirms this range. The Toyota Hyryder strong hybrid petrol-automatic, rated around 28 kmpl by ARAI, delivered roughly 18 kmpl in city conditions in independent testing. That is a 35% drop. At the other end, the Honda Elevate petrol-manual came within about 11% of its ARAI figure in the same city conditions. The variation between models is real and significant.

On highways, some cars actually beat their ARAI figure. The Toyota Fortuner Legender diesel returned over 15 kmpl in highway testing against an ARAI rating of 14.2 kmpl. This happens because the MIDC’s highway phase caps speed, so a steady, unloaded motorway run at 80 to 90 kmph can occasionally exceed the lab result.

Which cars come closest to their ARAI mileage in real life?

Strong hybrids and mild hybrids tend to show the smallest percentage gap in city driving. The Toyota Hyryder, Maruti Grand Vitara hybrid, and Honda City e: HEV recover energy during braking and idling, which is exactly when conventional cars are at their least efficient.

Diesel cars with manual gearboxes, driven mostly on highways at moderate speeds, also tend to come close to their ARAI numbers. If your driving is mainly long-distance highway, diesel mileage claims are more credible than they are for city use.

Turbocharged petrol cars, especially when driven hard in city traffic, often show the largest deviations. Some have been measured at 40 to 55% below ARAI claims in real-world city tests.

Why Does ARAI Mileage Differ From Actual Mileage?

The test conditions described above leave out almost everything that defines real Indian driving. Here is what the MIDC does not account for:

Air conditioning

The ARAI test runs with the AC off. In India, running AC is unavoidable for most of the year. It can reduce fuel efficiency by up to 15% in petrol cars and 5 to 10% in diesel cars. The ARAI number does not account for any of this.

Traffic congestion and stop-go driving

The MIDC urban phase simulates moderate stop-start movement, not Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road at 9 am or Delhi traffic on a Friday evening. In real metro traffic, the engine idles at red lights, the car barely reaches cruising speed before braking again, and fuel burns with very little forward progress. This alone accounts for a large part of the city mileage gap.

Driving style

The ARAI test uses a computer to control throttle and braking. No human drives that consistently. Hard acceleration, high RPM holds, sharp braking, and frequent lane changes all consume significantly more fuel. Smooth, anticipatory driving can close the gap noticeably.

Road conditions and terrain

The dynamometer sits on a flat surface at sea level. Real roads have potholes, speed breakers, flyover climbs, gradients through ghats, and altitude effects. Each one increases the load on the engine.

Passenger load and luggage

The test uses a standardised, minimal weight. A car carrying four adults and a loaded boot is heavier. The engine works harder to accelerate and maintain speed. A fully loaded car typically loses around 10% efficiency compared to solo driving with an empty boot.

Vehicle age and maintenance

Only new vehicles are tested. As a car accumulates kilometres, engine wear, clogged air filters, dirty injectors, and worn spark plugs all reduce efficiency. A car that once returned 15 kmpl in city driving can be down to 12 kmpl after 80,000 km without proper servicing. Regular maintenance, including oil changes, air filter replacement, and correct tyre pressure, recovers a meaningful amount of that loss.

ARAI Mileage For EVs: Is the Gap Even Larger?

Often, yes. EV range figures certified by ARAI are based on the same MIDC conditions, but the real-world deviation is frequently greater than for petrol or diesel.

The reasons are specific to electric drivetrains:

• Highway driving above 80 to 90 kmph drains EV batteries faster than the MIDC’s capped speeds suggest.
• AC and cabin heating draw directly from the battery rather than a separate fuel tank, so the hit to range is immediate and significant.
• Battery performance drops in high summer heat and in cold weather. Neither extreme appears in the ARAI test conditions.
• Regenerative braking recovers range in slow city traffic but is far less effective on open highways.

A practical rule: use about 70% of the ARAI-certified range when planning trips or calculating running costs. If an EV is rated 500 km on a charge by ARAI, budget around 350 km in mixed real conditions.

This matters especially on highway trips where charging infrastructure is still patchy in many parts of India. Trusting the ARAI figure for range planning has caught out more than a few EV buyers.

How to Calculate Your Expected Real-World Mileage

Once you have the ARAI figure for a car you are considering, apply this rough guide based on your driving pattern:

• If most of your driving is on expressways at moderate speed, subtract about 15% from the ARAI figure.
• Mixed city and highway (roughly 50:50): subtract around 25%.
• Pure urban commute with AC on and heavy traffic: subtract 30 to 35%.
• For EV range: use 70% of the ARAI-certified range when planning trips.

These are averages. They vary by engine type, gearbox, and individual habits. But they give a far more honest starting point than the brochure number alone.

How to measure your actual mileage

The most reliable method is the tank-fill calculation. Fill the tank to the brim, note the odometer, drive normally until the fuel is low, fill again to the brim, and divide kilometres driven by litres used. Do this over three or four tanks to get a stable average.

The MID display in most cars reads 5 to 10% higher than this manual calculation. It is fine for comparing trips, but it should not be treated as an absolute figure.

Should You Trust ARAI Mileage When Buying A Car?

For comparing cars: yes. For planning your fuel budget: no.

If Car A is rated 22 kmpl and Car B is rated 18 kmpl ARAI, Car A will very likely deliver better real-world efficiency too. The ratio holds even though neither will hit their stated number in daily use.

Where ARAI figures mislead buyers is when taken as a literal fuel cost estimate. Someone who buys a car rated 24 kmpl and then gets 16 kmpl in city traffic has not been deceived exactly, but the number on the brochure was never meant to describe their commute.

Before buying, look for real-world mileage data from owner communities. Team-BHP’s long-term test reports, 91Wheels owner reviews, and independent car publication fuel economy tests are more useful for predicting actual running costs than the ARAI figure. They also show which models hold up well over time and which ones drop off sharply with mileage.

Tips to Improve Real-World Mileage

You cannot recreate ARAI conditions on a real road, but you can narrow the gap:

• Change gears early, before 2,000 rpm in diesel and 2,500 rpm in petrol. High revs burn fuel fast.
• Anticipate traffic. Easing off the throttle and coasting to a stop wastes far less fuel than accelerating and then braking hard.
• Keep tyre pressure at the recommended level. Under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance and noticeably cut mileage.
• Use AC selectively. Turn it off when the cabin is cool, or switch to fan-only on mild days.
• Avoid unnecessary weight. A roof carrier, a full boot of tools, or heavy aftermarket accessories all reduce efficiency.
• Service regularly. A clean air filter, fresh engine oil, and checked spark plugs (on petrol) make a measurable difference over time.
• On highways, hold a steady 80 to 90 kmph rather than pushing above 100. Aerodynamic drag rises with the square of speed, so going from 80 to 120 kmph roughly doubles air resistance.

The Bottom Line

ARAI mileage is a standardised benchmark, not a guarantee. Use it to compare cars on your shortlist. A higher ARAI-rated car will almost always deliver better real-world efficiency than a lower-rated one in the same category. But do not use it to calculate how much you will spend on petrol every month.

Apply a 20 to 35% discount based on your driving pattern and budget from that number. The gap between the brochure and your fuel receipts is not the car failing you. It is just what happens when a lab test meets Indian roads.

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