Fuelonomics

When it was all said and done, this weekend I traveled approximately 630 miles. Although it might not seem like a lot, the bulk of the travel was done 5 hours.

While I was driving I thought a lot about the big deal people tend to make out of fuel efficiency. With fuel prices hovering around the $2.50/gallon range in the Pacific Northwest and nearing (or at) $3.00/gallon in other parts of the country, any automobile that gets less than 25 miles per gallon (MPG) is usually deemed as receiving terrible gas mileage. Anything above 25 and below 30 MPG is respectable. And anything above 30 MPG is fuel efficient.

I have thought a lot about selling my current vehicle for something more fuel efficient. I think this largely because 1) fuel prices continue to climb, 2) it seems like I'm filling-up more often, 3) I hate fuel stations, 4) it's somehow wired into my consciousness that I can't afford to pay for the rising cost of fuel and for my fuel-inefficient vehicle.

So I did some highway math...

Let's take two vehicles, a gas hog that gets 20MPG and a responsible/sensible vehicle that gets 30MPG, assume that we drive 20,000 miles in a year, and the cost of fuel is $2.50.

20 MPG GAS HOG
- miles driven in one year: 20000
- gallons of fuel used: 1000
- price of fuel: $2.50
- daily cost of fuel: $6.85

30 MPG SENSIBLE VEHICLE
- miles driven in one year: 20000
- gallons of fuel used: 667
- price of fuel: $2.50
- daily cost of fuel: $4.57

The difference in fuel costs per year between the two vehicles is ~$833, or $2.28 per day! At only $2 a day, that hardly seems like a reason to get rid of my current vehicle for something more fuel efficient. This isn't to say that there aren't other reasons for getting a more fuel efficient vehicle--it's just that the cost of fuel alone may not be a good reason as people usually think.