Experts find key to saving fuel: say gallons per mile

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/20/travelandtransport.carbonemissions

by czik • 18 years ago

41 29 18 years ago

guardian.co.uk

ROFISH• 18 years ago

This is a solution looking for a problem. This just solves the 'I save exactly x gallons' while most people just want to drive to work slightly cheaper.

deathbyzen• 18 years ago

I think it's pretty clear that the problem is car pollution. Like the article says, effectively communicating a cars "greeness" is the point. However, I do admit that changing completely to this number might be a bit weird. I'm not very good at math, but wouldn't the GPM number be a decimal usually? Like .025 GPM? That might be a bit of a mental leap for the general population to take.

I suppose a compromise could be reached if these numbers where used in tandem i.e. 15mpg/.0XXgpm

edit: Scratch that. It's not really about car pollution as it is about conservation of fuel/saving money which are different things.

eru3• 18 years ago

In Germany you usually talk about how many liters it takes to drive 100 km. And you get numbers of around 5 to 10 (or higher).

Even the article says: "When the tests were repeated using gallons per 100 miles, the volunteers correctly picked the greenest option from those available."

bkovitz• 18 years ago

The problem is that "miles per gallon" gives you a false impression of your costs and the fuel savings you get by switching to a more or less fuel-efficient car.

This is likely not a problem that many U.S. citizens are aware that they have, though.

pg• 18 years ago

They're a lot more aware of it than they were a year ago.

paulhart• 18 years ago

Canada requires fuel economy figures in liters per 100km.

mrdorian• 18 years ago

So does China

eru3• 18 years ago

And the rest of the civilized world.

(Sorry, I just like the SI system of units.)

pierrefar• 18 years ago

Yes, but will the car manufacturers actually do this? Sounds to me that it could cost them some sales...

Xichekolas3• 18 years ago

Only if gas guzzlers are more profitable than efficient cars, which, granted, has been the case up until now. However, with so many companies trying to differentiate based on green credentials now, it seems likely that their high margin business will be in efficiency in the future.

So short answer: maybe.

frouaix2• 18 years ago

If you cross the pond often, it's useful to remember the following: x mpg * y l/100km = 240 (or more exactly 235 and change, but 240 has more divisors and is easier to manipulate).

Illustrated:

10 mpg = 24 l/100km

20 mpg = 12 l/100km

24 mpg = 10 l/100km

30 mpg = 8 l/100km

40 mpg = 6 l/100km

60 mph = 4 l/100km

Small cars in EU are i the 4-6 l/100km range, or between 40-60 mpg. Sedans are typically between 8-12 l/100km, or 20-30 mpg.

HTH

teamonkey• 18 years ago

My brain's frazzled. Are you using US gallons or Imperial gallons in those calculations?

I'd suggest they go a step further though. The first thing I do when looking for a new car is convert the mpg figures into pence per mile.

seano2• 18 years ago

If they did that then the figures would change daily and be different for each market in which the car were sold.

frouaix2• 18 years ago

I used US gallons.

ComputerGuru2• 18 years ago

This is the kind of rephrasing of concepts that's just so ingenious and makes you wonder why no one thought of it before. Props to the people behind the (so obvious, so effective) idea!

ovi256• 18 years ago

Uhmm, it's been used in the rest of the world (I can vouch for Europe) since forever? In the form of liters/100km.

ComputerGuru2• 18 years ago

OK, then props to whoever is bringing this idea to the USA :)

That's like pointing out the Arabs invented algebra before the Europeans started using it, so the European mathematicians don't deserve any credit at all.

Props to these guys and the entire denizens of Europe, if that makes you feel more politically correct :)

mynameishere• 18 years ago

I still can't wrap my head around celsius. Is 20 celsius hot? Is 25 hot? I'm not sure. I'd have to convert it to fahrenheit in order to get a feel.

Same thing. I know that 20 mpg is somewhat bad, 30 mpg is somewhat good. How about... 0.05 gallons per mile? I'd have to divide it first. This is the reason why grocery stores sometimes advertise prices at 4 dollars per 9 units, and similar. They know people can't work out that math instantly...

Xichekolas3• 18 years ago

But like everything, if you use it for a little while you get an intuitive sense for the numbers.

I used to struggle with celsius as well, but then I lived in Spain for a while. Once I stopped converting to Fahrenheit all the time and just tried to associate the numbers with days that I remember, I got where I know that 20 is fresh, 25 is warm, 30 is getting toasty, and 42 is a smokin' hot summer day in Sevilla.

sosuke• 18 years ago

I couldn't find one listing of a gallons per mile in the article.

http://www.google.com/search?q=20+mpg+in+gallons+per+mile

Is that correct for what they are looking for? My car gets .05 gallons per mile! Wait the structure on that sentence is wrong isn't it?

TheWama• 18 years ago

They corrected for this in the tests:

> the tests were repeated using gallons per 100 miles

You could also say "aught-5 gallons per mile," where the decimal is placed by convention. Though then you run into trouble with the .009 gpm cars...

jgrahamc• 18 years ago

My car shows me this on its onboard computer. It gives me instantaneous and averaged litres per 100 kilometres.

Experts find key to saving fuel: say gallons per mile

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