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We actually need it updated to include gas mixed with Ethanol.
The problem is that Ethanol is not recommended for using in some new automobiles. Also, how about automobiles that run on natural gas, propane, or electricity? Again, nothing needs "updating." One can perform simple calculations to solve such problems, and if one does not understand math, then one can use one of myriad of gadgets available for this and other purposes.
The problem is that Ethanol is not recommended for using in some new automobiles.
The problem in the lower 48 is finding a gas station that does not have a sign on the pump stating "Up to 10% Ethanol". Even if you get a list of non-ethanol stations off of the net they are not always correct and you waste gas just to get too one. FYI - Some new cars (and many older cars) require an additive to the fuel that stops the reactions with the plastic/rubber parts that cause the fuel pumps to fail.
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.....One can perform simple calculations to solve such problems.............
What is simple to a few people, is not simple to most due to the current educational system.
Why? If I'm planning a 1,000 mile trip, what do I want to know? How many gallons it will take to go 1,000 miles. Which will remain the same, no matter how much the gas costs along the way. On that basis, I can choose the most appropriate car for the trip based on MPG, and adjust my cost by altering my driving style, choosing a more economical route, using a cash-back oil company credit card, making sure my tires are properly inflated, going to Oklahoma instead of California, or not taking the trip at all. There is nothing else I need to know. MPG.
Yup. Miles per gallon or miles per charge. Everything else is easy to figure out if you need to know it. But to take a trip, or commute, I only need to know miles per gallon (or miles per charge, if I have an electric). Since the COST per charge or cost per gallong fluctuates, knowing miles per gallon I can tell how much the cost will be at any given time.
The MPG figure is just one of the figures given on car stickers, though it is the one everyone talks about. The stickers also give you an annual cost of fuel based on a given price at the pump and 12,000 miles of driving. It also gives you an emissions rating that shows that particular car compared to average vehicles as well as annual emissions expressed in tons. So, everything you want is already on the current sticker in some way.
FWIW, the EPA is looking to update the stickers and two designs are being offered:
Including a "cost" figure doesn't work because that could change monthly or more frequently. Gasoline was $3/gal a year ago. Now it is $4. Any rating done a year ago would have to be done again.
True that this could change, but a database-driven web site handles that easily.
Cost per mile is, strictly speaking, is something that could incorporate the vehicle's average maintenance costs (over the vehicle's average lifetime), which can be hard to calculate for a new vehicle.
Why? If I'm planning a 1,000 mile trip, what do I want to know? How many gallons it will take to go 1,000 miles. Which will remain the same, no matter how much the gas costs along the way. On that basis, I can choose the most appropriate car for the trip based on MPG, and adjust my cost by altering my driving style, choosing a more economical route, using a cash-back oil company credit card, making sure my tires are properly inflated, going to Oklahoma instead of California, or not taking the trip at all. There is nothing else I need to know. MPG.
Yeah, you don't need to know nuthin. Don't bother with the fancy "reading the post" business either.
Yup. Miles per gallon or miles per charge. Everything else is easy to figure out if you need to know it. But to take a trip, or commute, I only need to know miles per gallon (or miles per charge, if I have an electric). Since the COST per charge or cost per gallong fluctuates, knowing miles per gallon I can tell how much the cost will be at any given time.
The problem is that you don't know what you're paying for. Much of it is transportation of the fuel, refining, etc for fossil fuels. For electric charge, you are generating the electricity somewhere, somehow, and it is transmitted over some lines, and then it shows up at the plug. You really have no idea what the energy cost is of charging your car, except for the very last link in the chain, which probably shows you the kWh dispensed at your charge point.
How many miles and from which country did the gas and/or electricity come from that you're pumping into your car? What is the *total* cost of that energy? If we can eliminate unknowns in the price chain, then prices will become more manageable by the market and we won't be buying fuel from a shadowy underworld of hocus pocus anymore.
Good idea but do not forget the oil companies want to make knowing how much they will charge and how it affects anything a shell game.
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