The Feds Make War on Car Gas Mileage
Uncle admits that his current fuel economy fatwas have added $1,800 (laughable; it’s much, much more) to the price tag of every new car – a sum that renders the savings achieved at the pump an irrelevance.
The current MPG mandatory minimum is 35.5 MPG (average) vs. 27.5 (what it was back in 2010 before Uncle kicked it up).
Most new cars don’t average 35.5 MPG; a very few hit that marks (like the Prius hybrid) but most fall far short. But let’s – for the sake of discussion – say that Uncle’s fatwa achieved its stated goal of forcing the car companies to build cars that average 35.5 MPG.
That’s an 8 MPG improvement for $1,800.
Is it worth it?
Compare what it costs to feed a car that averages 27.5 MPG vs. one that averages 35.5 MPG and see for yourself.
Assume a full tank (15 gallons, for the sake of discussion). The 27.5 MPG car can travel 412.5 miles. The 35.5 MPG can go 532.5 miles. The difference is 120 miles.
If gas costs about $2.20 a gallon, the car that gets 35.5 MPG saved you about $7.25 (about 3.3 gallons’ worth of gas, which you’d otherwise have had to buy if you had been driving the 27.5 MPG car, to travel the additional 120 miles).
Why are the most advertised Gold and Silver coins NOT the best way to invest?
That’s a “savings” of about $30 a month – about $350 annually.
It will take you about five years to reach breakeven, the point at which the cost of Uncle’s fatwa has been amortized by the money you didn’t have to spend on gas (but had to spend on the car).
Such a deal!
Keep in mind that – per above – only a handful of cars actually do average 35.5 MPG and only a tiny handful do better.
Most do worse – but all cost more.
I just finished test-driving and reviewing the latest VW Beetle (see here). It is one of the more fuel-efficient new gas-engined/non-hybrid cars available. It averages 28 MPG (25 cities, 34 highway).
Do that math (a .5 MPG “gain” for $1,800).
And now Uncle’s about to double down.
The post The Feds Make War on Car Gas Mileage appeared first on LewRockwell.
Leave a Reply