As the price of gas at the pump skyrockets

Well, I'm totally convinced that most people don't give a **** about the cost of fuel.

It would be stupid easy for most drivers to improve their gas mileage by 10% or so, which would have the same effect as a 40 cents per gallon drop in price. But that would involve changing driving habits - and that sure ain't happening. Sitting in the line for a drive through listening to all the engines sitting and idling. And, try driving in the right lane at the speed limit on M39 some day - It's not enough to ride 6 inches off my rear bumper, or to zoom around with no room to spare, some clown had to use the shoulder to pass me yesterday.

So, yea.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Well, I'm totally convinced that most people don't give a **** about the cost of fuel.

It would be stupid easy for most drivers to improve their gas mileage by 10% or so, which would have the same effect as a 40 cents per gallon drop in price. But that would involve changing driving habits - and that sure ain't happening. Sitting in the line for a drive through listening to all the engines sitting and idling. And, try driving in the right lane at the speed limit on M39 some day - It's not enough to ride 6 inches off my rear bumper, or to zoom around with no room to spare, some clown had to use the shoulder to pass me yesterday.

So, yea.
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Don't forget all the enviro-nazi's that remote start their cars to warm them up.
 
Clip4 said:
I really enjoy people who use the term pain at the pump. Go to work, go to the grocery and then park the car in the damn driveway. If everyone cut there gas consumption 15% worldwide the prices would come down.

and before you say what about the people who have to commute a long way to work - move. You shouldn’t have located your home that far from your employment and bought that damn big truck.
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No doubt. I work with several people who have large trucks. A couple of them drive F350s as their commuter vehicle and they live far from work. Farther than any actual need would dictate. They seldom if ever use the truck for hauling anything other than groceries. Dummies make dummy choices.
 
SkyDog58 said:
They seldom if ever use the truck for hauling anything other than groceries.
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And that's why I have a trailer that I can drag behind my Ford Focus. Lumber, topsoil, sod, gravel, drywall, airplane wings, rental machines, and just about anything under 1/2 ton.
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flyingcheesehead said:
I meant "better" as in "more accurate", i.e. not just assuming that electricity is free. That's kinda cheating. ;)



The EVs I've had - Five of them - Have been in the neighborhood of 4 mi/kWh. Technically, the Tesla is rated the highest at 4.2 and the Fusion Energi should have been the lowest, theoretically at 2.6... But I got around 4 out of it most of the time. I just had to drive it more gently than the Tesla!

If I guessed, I'd have told you the Bolt was the worst. I was wrong... Seems the plug-in hybrids don't do so hot. I guess hauling that engine around is bad for efficiency. ;)

Looking at the other non-Tesla BEVs I've had, though, they were both 118 MPGe which is 3.5 mi/kWh. So 3.5-4 seems like a reasonable range.
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isn’t that kind of anecdotal? I mean you don’t have to buy an ICE car with an average 25mpg either. Plenty do much better than that. Just because EVs you had in your hands did around 4, doesn’t make it average

in a similar fashion, many ICE cars beat their EPA estimates as well.
 
Bob Noel said:
Don't forget all the enviro-nazi's that remote start their cars to warm them up.
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Not saying one should do it but idling your car for 10 minutes will use about 0.03 gallons of gas for the average sedan, the equivalent of 0.9 miles at 30MPG.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicle...umption-selected-gasoline-and-diesel-vehicles

Accelerating less hard or dropping your speed from 75 to 70 will do a lot more than not idling to warm up your car. Having a car that gets 35 mpg and idling 10 minutes every so often still saves way more gas than having a 25mpg car and not. The best of course is to not idle *and* get a car that gets 35MPG+
 
AKiss20 said:
Accelerating less hard
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Not using the brakes is better than accelerating less hard - unless you have a hybrid with regenerative braking, brakes just throw away energy. 100% loss. Paying attention to the lights ahead so you know when to keep rolling and when to coast makes a difference, but it requires that you actually pay attention.

Engine off coasting, shutting off at lights, and that sort of thing makes the difference between 37ish and 42ish MPG in my manual transmission Focus. But, with 180k on the starter and clutch, I don't bother with that any more.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Or, just not hit the remote start 30 minutes before you leave...
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I just bought a car with remote start. It's really nice in the winter because it warms the interior and the engine before I even get in. But I learned, when I got delayed leaving once, that it stops itself after 10-15 minutes (not sure when it turned off).
 
Velocity173 said:
Another thing about EVs that’s over looked in these calculations is that most of us charge at work for free. I’m at work for 12 hrs. That’s roughly 40 miles of range for a 32 mile drive home. 7 day work week, 280 miles of free range. That’s around $90 of savings a month in gas over an average ICE vehicle right now. I’ve read some Tesla owners saying they save about $500 a month in gas. I don’t drive that much but I’m probably close to $200 savings a month in gas.
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"Most of us"? Let's take a poll--how many people here have that option? I sure don't.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Not using the brakes is better than accelerating less hard - unless you have a hybrid with regenerative braking, brakes just throw away energy. 100% loss. Paying attention to the lights ahead so you know when to keep rolling and when to coast makes a difference, but it requires that you actually pay attention.

Engine off coasting, shutting off at lights, and that sort of thing makes the difference between 37ish and 42ish MPG in my manual transmission Focus. But, with 180k on the starter and clutch, I don't bother with that any more.
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The don’t use the brakes as much thing has been around since back in the 70’s with the embargo when gas shortages/prices became a big thing. But it all boils down to how you drive so as to reduce the need for braking. Not the braking itself. Yeah on turning off the lights. That made a noticeable difference in my hybrid. Wondering how much difference it would make in gas/diesel cars. It takes power to turn the alternator and the more load on it the more it takes. I think. Is that true? Does it take more power to turn an alternator with load on it than not?
 
AKiss20 said:
Not saying one should do it but idling your car for 10 minutes will use about 0.03 gallons of gas for the average sedan, the equivalent of 0.9 miles at 30MPG.
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When I was a kid my dad was not about to waste one drop of that 22 cent per gallon gas warming up the car in winter. The car still wasn't warmed up by the time we got to the school, but I bet it was warm when pop got to work...
 
Zeldman said:
When I was a kid my dad was not about to waste one drop of that 22 cent per gallon gas warming up the car in winter. The car still wasn't warmed up by the time we got to the school, but I bet it was warm when pop got to work...
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Warming up a car is on the long list of silly things that NJ has outlawed. It's not universally enforced, but some towns make a nice bit of income on cold mornings by issuing tickets to cars idling in driveways.
 
GaryM said:
Warming up a car is on the long list of silly things that NJ has outlawed. It's not universally enforced, but some towns make a nice bit of income on cold mornings by issuing tickets to cars idling in driveways.
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:nonod:

Maybe this guy could help you out....

93a535bc0919cae50f1d7199fc236a2910a44255.jpeg
 
luvflyin said:
Does it take more power to turn an alternator with load on it than not?
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Ain't no such thing as a free lunch (first law of thermodynamics).
If the alternator is putting out 50 Watts, then it needs 50+ Watts from the engine.
 
judypilot said:
I just bought a car with remote start. It's really nice in the winter because it warms the interior and the engine before I even get in. But I learned, when I got delayed leaving once, that it stops itself after 10-15 minutes (not sure when it turned off).
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Electric seat heaters not powerful enough?
 
Salty said:
That’s just stupid IMO
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Why? Do you have a gas pump at home?

If they can charge at work and have superchargers nearby what does it matter? I know Tesla owners who do t have charging at home and do exactly that. Works fine for them.
 
AKiss20 said:
Why? Do you have a gas pump at home?

If they can charge at work and have superchargers nearby what does it matter? I know Tesla owners who do t have charging at home and do exactly that. Works fine for them.
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Not having to go to the pump is one of the big advantages of electric. People are allowed to be stupid. I own an airplane.
 
Half Fast said:
How long does it take to warm up a Tesla sitting in the driveway?
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It uses a resistance heater so it’s pretty quick. Definitely faster than an ICE vehicle. You can preheat the cabin on the app before you get in too. I believe the newest Model Y uses a heat pump though. Not sure how effective that is on preheating.
 
I've seen this so many times it starts to make me sick. Gas gets cheap, Americans buy giant boxes on wheels that guzzle gas like it's going out of style. Gas gets expensive again and everyone gripes. Rinse and repeat. My car is 20 years old and gets 35mpg when I drive it, which isn't really all that often. Last time I priced an electric vehicle I'd have to drive around the world to make up the cost difference with a similar gas burner.

Even my airplane gets better mileage that most cars.
 
steingar said:
I've seen this so many times it starts to make me sick. Gas gets cheap, Americans buy giant boxes on wheels that guzzle gas like it's going out of style. Gas gets expensive again and everyone gripes. Rinse and repeat. My car is 20 years old and gets 35mpg when I drive it, which isn't really all that often. Last time I priced an electric vehicle I'd have to drive around the world to make up the cost difference with a similar gas burner.

Even my airplane gets better mileage that most cars.
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No, it doesn't.

The BEST book numbers of your aircraft - with no wind - are 20 mpg. Avg car is 24 mpg.

And nobody flies the best book numbers in an M20C 1800rpm. Runs like crap.
 
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steingar said:
I've seen this so many times it starts to make me sick. Gas gets cheap, Americans buy giant boxes on wheels that guzzle gas like it's going out of style. Gas gets expensive again and everyone gripes. Rinse and repeat. My car is 20 years old and gets 35mpg when I drive it, which isn't really all that often. Last time I priced an electric vehicle I'd have to drive around the world to make up the cost difference with a similar gas burner.

Even my airplane gets better mileage that most cars.
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Why not just own multiple vehicles and adjust your habits a bit? If gas prices are fairly cheap, I drive one of my F-150s, ~18mpg. Price goes up, I drive my Dodge Challenger at ~30mpg. Gas price goes through the roof, I ride my motorcycle, 40mpg.

And none of it makes much difference to my flying. That'd be like trying to cut back on a heroin addiction because the price of needles goes up.
 
Half Fast said:
Why not just own multiple vehicles and adjust your habits a bit? If gas prices are fairly cheap, I drive one of my F-150s, ~18mpg. Price goes up, I drive my Dodge Challenger at ~30mpg. Gas price goes through the roof, I ride my motorcycle, 40mpg.

And none of it makes much difference to my flying. That'd be like trying to cut back on a heroin addiction because the price of needles goes up.
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Years ago I needed a tow vehicle that got 40 miles to the gallon. So I bought a 10 year old Honda Civic and a 10 year old Ford F150 for $5K. I still have the F150 with only 150,000 miles on it. For the majority of the time it sits in my driveway. Most the time I drive the smaller car. Match the vehicle to the mission.
 
Half Fast said:
Why not just own multiple vehicles and adjust your habits a bit? .
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for me, the extra cost to insure a motorcycle far exceeds any possible fuel savings… especially now that I have a hybrid that gets better than 40mpg
 
Bob Noel said:
for me, the extra cost to insure a motorcycle far exceeds any possible fuel savings… especially now that I have a hybrid that gets better than 40mpg
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But how do you tow your boat of the ramp?
 
Bob Noel said:
for me, the extra cost to insure a motorcycle far exceeds any possible fuel savings… especially now that I have a hybrid that gets better than 40mpg
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But the motorcycle makes me happy for less money than a shrink.
 
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