Class, today we will learn about fuel economy. This is sparked by a conversation with a customer service rep. yesterday. She was complaining about gas prices but then told me how proud she was of her Chevy Suburban that had a 40 gallon gas tank and could go 500 miles before having to refuel! I quickly did the math after she told me this. That equals 12.5 miles per gallon. That is nothing to brag about lady, it’s 2005!! It just refueled (pun intended) my annoyance with people who bitch about gas prices and see no connection with the vehicle that uses up the gas.
I did a little research on the EPA website, they publish handy little fuel economy guides every year showing every popular model of car and its corresponding gas mileage. I’m going to compare my favorite car, the Honda Civic, with my least favorite, the Ford Excursion. For some kicks, in the end I’m going to throw in a Hummer.
If you have a 2005 Civic, with manual transmission, you will spend approx. $800 on gas, getting 32/38 mpg.
With a 2004 Ford Excursion, you would get approximately 13 mpg in the city, 17 mpg highway. I couldn’t compare the ’05 model because it was discontinued due to being too darned big. It was also exempt from EPA regulations last year because vehicles heavier than 8,500 lbs. are exempt not only from reporting mileage estimates, but they don’t count against the average fuel economy standards that automakers must meet. Not sure how that makes sense…
So to be fair in my research, I’ll switch to a 2005 Ford Explorer. If you drove this economical miracle (that doesn’t have the manual transmission option) you would spend about $2,000 a year on gas. Averaging about 11 mpg/city and 15mpg/highway.
Now let’s pretend you’re a 40 yr. old guy still playing G.I. Joe in a flat-as-all-heck area like Ohio. If you had a 2005 Hummer H2, you would spend about $3,000 on gas, getting about 9/12 mpg. Not to mention insurance premiums averaging around $1,200/yr.
I’m not entirely sure what I wanted to accomplish by bitching about this. I realize my bitching doesn’t make me any better than people who bitch about gas prices. But if people in the year 2050 ever look back and wonder why they have no more oil and go to blame our greedy American society, I would like them to know that at least some people realize the stupidity of our driving habits. I would also like the people of 2050 to know that I drive a 16 yr. old Civic that miraculously gets 40/45 mpg and I buy gas from Citgo which comes from Venezuela, not the Middle East. Not that I expect recognition for my actions, I just want to show there are alternatives!!!
I’ll wrap up my complaining with a question to ponder. What ever happened to the year 2000 bringing us Jetson’s cars? I was really looking forward to those…
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