Mongabay.com
- Jun 21, 2008
- 16 hours ago
The use of miles-per-gallon instead of gallons-per-distance to measure fuel-efficiency may be clouding Americans' judgement when it comes to choosing whether to take the worst gas-guzzling vehicles off the road, argues a new paper published in the journal Science. Full Article
This article has an interesting idea about how to measure fuel-efficiency. It also debunks some of the midsets people have about gains in MPG.
"For example most students responded incorrectly to the question whether the savings of going from a 12-MPG car to a 14-MPG car were greater than replacing 28-MPG auto with a 40-MPG model. The 2-MPG gain from upgrading from a 12-MPG to 14-MPG translates to a savings of roughly 120-gallons over the course of 10,000 miles. By comparison, going from 28-MPG to 40-MPG saves 95 gallons over that distance."
The idea that 28-40 mpg is less of a savings than 12-14 mpg escapes most people. Of course going from 12-40 mpg would be the best idea, but many people cant afford to buy new cars. That's were using "Green Driving Tips" to beat the EPA helps out. If you are just looking to save money, increasing the gas mileage just a little on a car that is paid for will save you more in the short term (2-4 years) than buying a new car that gets better gas mileage.
This article has an interesting idea about how to measure fuel-efficiency. It also debunks some of the midsets people have about gains in MPG.
"For example most students responded incorrectly to the question whether the savings of going from a 12-MPG car to a 14-MPG car were greater than replacing 28-MPG auto with a 40-MPG model. The 2-MPG gain from upgrading from a 12-MPG to 14-MPG translates to a savings of roughly 120-gallons over the course of 10,000 miles. By comparison, going from 28-MPG to 40-MPG saves 95 gallons over that distance."
The idea that 28-40 mpg is less of a savings than 12-14 mpg escapes most people. Of course going from 12-40 mpg would be the best idea, but many people cant afford to buy new cars. That's were using "Green Driving Tips" to beat the EPA helps out. If you are just looking to save money, increasing the gas mileage just a little on a car that is paid for will save you more in the short term (2-4 years) than buying a new car that gets better gas mileage.
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