How much does Gasoline cost in your area?

[LKTraz]

0

With regard to the being forced to buy more efficient vehicles......that's easy to say but not a cover all situation. I for one need to have larger vehicles due to where I live and the need to carry more passengers/cargo in a single trip.

Try this math out.

Plymouth Voyager minivan VS Smartcar.........

Voyager 22 MPG
Smartcar 40 MPG

I bulk shop for canned goods and non perishables at Aldi's. The nearest store is 25 miles away so buying in volume is how I can justify the trip. The more I can transport, the more worth it the trip is.

With the Voyager I can go to the store with 3 passengers (making shopping a less time consuming venture by splitting the list up) and procure everything I need for 6 months. This vehicle is capable of then transporting everything back home.

The Smart car is set up for 2 people. This means it will take longer to get what i need and further, it can't transport everything in one trip. I would need to make 2 trips.

Each leg of the trip is 45 minutes drive time considering that I have to run through several towns to get there and back. An average time at the store with 4 people is 40 minutes with 4 people doing the shopping.

Voyager

1 trip
Drive time total 1.5 hours
Shopping time total 40 minutes
At 22 MPG total fuel used 2.27 gallons

Smartcar
2 trips
Drive time total 3 hours
Shopping time total 2.66 hours
At 40 MPG total fuel used 2.5 gallons

Adjusted to compare with a single trip for the Voyager the Smartcar then averages 20 MPG.

Add to this that it takes 5.66 hours not counting turn around time to unload and go for the second trip with the Smartcar and just over 2 hours with the Voyager.

As well......count in wear and tear on tires, oil, vehicle parts etc and also factor in that I would be driving twice the mileage to accomplish the same task......this creates twice the chances of an accident (statistically speaking).

Now why the hell would I want to spend 6 to 6.5 hours (factoring in turn around time) to do something I could do in 2 hours and 10 minutes AND use nearly .25 gallons less fuel by having the lower MPG rated Voyager?

Yes the MPG is lower BUT......the net total fuel use is lower when capacity is factored in. As well the time invested to accomplish the task is reduced by 66%.

No brainer when you work it out.