How much does fuel efficiency matter?

Driving over 100 miles, the 25 mpg car saves 4 gallons compared to the 12.5 mpg car. But over the same distance, the 50 mpg car saves just 2 gallons compared to the 25 mpg car. Taken to the extreme, if there were a 100 mpg car available on the market, it would only save 1 gallon of gas compared to the 50 mpg car. Achieving good gas mileage means you consume less gas over a longer distance per mile.

Gas mileage is measured in mpg. For example, if your vehicle scores 30 mpg, it travels 30 miles per gallon of gas. The advantage of measuring fuel consumption in this way is that it facilitates comparisons as fuel efficiency for a specific vehicle improves. This is because the differences are linear.

With miles per gallon, efficiency is rated on a curve. For example, for a 15 mpg car, a 5 mpg improvement is a 33 percent gain. But that same 5 mpg improvement for a 30 mpg car is only a 17.5 percent improvement compared to a vehicle that already consumes half the gas. In fact, we believe that higher taxes on gasoline are a smarter way to allow the market to solve the fuel consumption it will pay, but we are not going to.

Hybrid and electric vehicles achieve the best fuel economy, although many gasoline vehicles get more than 30 miles per gallon (mpg). As the standard way to measure fuel economy, mpg is an effective way to determine if a vehicle will save you money at the gas station. Since most of the above vehicles listed are electric, take a look at the best fuel-efficient hybrid or gasoline vehicles. The more miles per gallon a car goes, the farther you can go with a tank of gas and the better your fuel economy will be.

The experiments of management professors Richard Larick and Jack Soll showed that consumers thought fuel consumption dropped at a steady rate as mileage increased. Now, the difficult part of using this calculator is that you never know what the future holds, both in terms of its consumption. fuel personnel as well as gasoline prices in general. When you select a plug-in hybrid and change annual miles to a value other than 15,000, you must enter a value for% miles on electricity in Customize Fuel Prices and Driving Habits.

Fuel-efficient vehicles are said to be better for the environment, so if you're the earth-loving type, you might consider upgrading them just for that reason. According to the EPA, hybrids such as the Toyota Prius Eco, Toyota Corolla Hybrid, Kia Niro FE and Hyundai Ioniq Blue are the best choices in their fuel economy segments. To know if buying a more fuel-efficient car makes sense, you'll need to think about your driving needs both now and in the future. Another added benefit of buying a fuel-efficient car is that, depending on where you live, doing so could give you access to the HOV vehicle lanes of your local highway, even if it doesn't really meet occupancy requirements.

While it's tempting to look at a vehicle that scores 50 mpg on the road and say it saves fuel, you may not drive that same vehicle.

Bethany Pesch
Bethany Pesch

Amateur music geek. Lifelong gamer. Incurable music trailblazer. Subtly charming organizer. Extreme internet evangelist.