Cost of Gas for a Round Trip at $4.00 / Gallon

[FarCenter]

Highlight the column for the mileage you get and put it on your garage door.

Cost of Gas for a Round Trip at $4.00/Gallon 

                                  Miles Per Gallon
One-way         10      15      20      25      30      35      40
Distance
       5      $4.00   $2.67   $2.00   $1.60   $1.33   $1.14   $1.00
      10      $8.00   $5.33   $4.00   $3.20   $2.67   $2.29   $2.00
      15     $12.00   $8.00   $6.00   $4.80   $4.00   $3.43   $3.00
      20     $16.00  $10.67   $8.00   $6.40   $5.33   $4.57   $4.00
      25     $20.00  $13.33  $10.00   $8.00   $6.67   $5.71   $5.00
      30     $24.00  $16.00  $12.00   $9.60   $8.00   $6.86   $6.00
      35     $28.00  $18.67  $14.00  $11.20   $9.33   $8.00   $7.00
      40     $32.00  $21.33  $16.00  $12.80  $10.67   $9.14   $8.00
      45     $36.00  $24.00  $18.00  $14.40  $12.00  $10.29   $9.00
      50     $40.00  $26.67  $20.00  $16.00  $13.33  $11.43  $10.00

[screembloodymurder]

1. I need a Prius,

But I can't afford to go to work.

[dysfunctional press]

20. the money spent buying a prius would put a lot of gas in a good used car.

that's how i see it.

[nono]

2. Gas

My car gets about 18mpg, my scooter gets 50 plus in town.

[liberal N proud]

3. $15.00 per day just to get to and from work

No of the other required trips included.
Typical day of travel:
To work - 6 miles: $2.50 est
Work to pick up daughter at school: 8.7 miles: $3.75 est
School to her dance studio: 12.7 miles: $5.75 est
Studio back home: 10.5 miles: $4.00

Total trip: 37.9 miles $15.00

That is just one day. What am I supposed to do, tell my daughter that she can't pursue her passion?
And before anyone suggest it, there is no dance studio closer to home. Time doesn't permit the use of bicycles on any segment of the trip.
Her dance lessons last depending on the day 1 to 3 hours. I used to go do other things while she danced, but now I take my laptop and just sit there and work.

We are simply screwed.

I talked to my parents last night, and they are worried about being able to make it on what they have left. When they retired 26 years ago they had plenty of money to live well into their 90's. But their insurance was 100% covered through their retirement at the time and now they pay for their own and the rising cost of everything is just really hitting them. The only place they go is to the doctor and church. Now at 89 they don't know how much longer the money will last now.

[dipsydoodle]

4. What is the background

to why you do not use the small diesel engines we have in Europe ? You have not for example got the 2.0 CDR Jeep Patriot which over 40mpg Imperial or, as far as I'm aware, the latest 2.0D BMW 170 engine which does over 50.

[FarCenter]

7. Diesels have had a bad reputation in the US

People regard diesels as noisy, smelly, smokey, hard to start, and hard to maintain. This is due to experiences with diesels in trucks or in earlier attempts to market diesel cars. Mercedes has always sold diesels in the US. Volkswagen sold diesel Rabbits in some numbers a couple of decades ago. GM had diesels in Oldsmobiles -- a friend had one, it was a dog.

I realize that the current diesels have solved most of the problems, although they might still have some problems with California-level emissions standards.

Also, the price of diesel is quite a bit higher / gallon than the price of gas. Formerly diesel was less expensive than gas, but the use of diesel in trucks and the equivalent #2 heating oil for residential heating seems to have eliminated that advantage.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Then maybe now is the time

to used to them of necessity if for no other reason. Thanks for the background.

[FarCenter]

11. The bigger picture

The US originally produced all its own crude oil. Production started in Pennsylvania, and then the East Texas and Oklahoma oil fields took over. The US was a major exporter of oil, especially during World War II.

In Europe, only Romania was a major oil producer, and most countries had to import most of their oil. Local coal was used for electricity, rail locomotives, and heating -- also giving rise to the famous London smog.

The price of gasoline was kept very high by imposing severe taxes on it. This was necessary in order to limit the outflow of foreign exchange and keep from bankrupting the economy. The high tax policy, applied over decades, resulted in a more compact design of urban areas, well-developed electric-powered mass transit, and smaller high-mileage cars and trucks.

Alas, even when the US started to import more and more of its oil supply, the attempts at controlling consumption by raising taxes were defeated by the oil companies, car companies and by popular demand.

Not having taken preventive measures over the last couple of decades, now we're pretty much screwed by rising fuel prices, since we have sprawling suburban areas, poorly developed mass transit, and lots of large, low-mileage vehicles.

[dipsydoodle]

15. Yep

maybe the end of suburbia : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6306450996928864077&q=the+end+of+suburbia&ei=V30USJPQJ5bAigKZ78DZBA

I've got the DVD which I think I'll watch again now.

[depakid]

5. Distance to the office 19.1 miles one way- gas money $0

$4.10 both ways light rail + short bike rides.

Thank God Portland had the foresight to invest mass transit (getting kind of crowded, though).

[Callalily]

6. Thank gawd I just moved.

My commute to work used to be 22 miles one way. Even getting 36 MPG, according to your graph, that's approximately $9/day. Now I'm 1.3 miles from work and will walk.

[FarCenter]

8. I've already converted the one-way distance to round trip cost

Commuting to a job 20 miles away in a 35 MPG car would cost $4.57 / day.

Still...

[blue sky at night]

10. this chart is a work of art....

but I copied and pasted it into word and it is a mess. We need to remake it using Excel so the columns will stay straight. Thanks so much for the heads up, this something we should all have in the car.

[Breeze54]

13. Can you do a screen shot and make it a jpg?

:shrug:

[FarCenter]

14. Easy enough to do in Excel

That is what it was in originally.

The formula is

RoundTripCost = 2 * OneWayDistance * PricePerGallon / MilesPerGallon

[Breeze54]

12. That's a very helpful chart! - Thanks for posting it! n/t

:kick: & Recommended

[Breeze54]

16. Calculate The Estimated Fuel Cost Of Your Trip with the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator

AAA Fuel Cost Calculator

Calculate The Estimated Fuel Cost Of Your Trip

http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/

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Results

Start City: MA, Boston
End City: NH, Concord

One-Way Trip: 67 Miles
2.68 Gallons Used
$9.36 Fuel Cost

Round-Trip: 134 Miles
5.36 Gallons Used
$18.72 Fuel Cost

[taterguy]

17. I tried that

Trek or Gary Fisher mountain bike wasn't an option.

:shrug:

[Breeze54]

22. Yeah... no fat burning included in the calculations.

:hi:

[Fumesucker]

18. I have no need of such a chart..

But then I learned to do math before the age of calculators and can do such simple arithmetic in my head easily.

Another example of the dumbing down of America.

[elocs]

19. Gas where I live is now at $3.57 a gallon.

I get 30 mpg and my drive to work is only 7 miles round trip. When it get dependably nicer I will ride my bike. I don't drive too much, so the price of gas for personal driving does not hurt me much. People don't think twice about dropping a fiver at Mickey D's and that would buy me gas to get to work all week. Gas is the drug we are hooked on and we want as much of it as we need. Now we can all understand how smokers feel about the price of cigarettes--they need them and they have to pay through the nose for something that was once much cheaper.

[InkAddict]

21. I'd be tempted to bike the 9 mile one-way trip

but at my age, it's just "too hazardous" (no sidewalks) for a "no-benefit" job (Read: not eligible for life insurance) There's also that HUGE grade down and up from the bridge, too tough for a 3-speed. Walking would probably take 3-1/2 hours minimum, one way. I checked public transportation - Ride a bus downtown; transfer to ride back on a different route; one-way=same time. YIKES! - 7 hours a day to work 4.