How Many Hours Do You Have to Work to Fill Your Gas Tank?
You Might Be Very Surprised
A few days back I posted a You Tube presentation about two professors from Duke University who came up with a different, and in their minds, more accurate way to determine the efficiency of the engine in your vehicle.
It’s nice to know how many miles per gallon (MPG), or as the profs say, gallons per mile (GPM) your vehicle will get, but there’s more, much more to that equation.
First of all, you’re paying a premium for regular gasoline, $4 maybe in excess of $5 a gallon, and you decide to fill it up. Sticker shock will settle in quickly, but how about this, how many hours will you have to work in order to pay for that fuel?
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CNN has posted a super simple calculator to help you determine how long you’ll have to work in order to fill the gas tank on your car. The link is below, along with another link that ties into the overall cost of owning a car, and a chart to see how your vehicle stacks up against the least expensive cars to own, and they aren’t hybrids.
How Much is Your Vehicle Costing You Each Day?
Face it, whether moving constantly or sitting in the garage for days on end, your vehicle is costing you money. Here are the considerations:
- Depreciation (your vehicle loses value every day)
- Financing
- Insurance
- Taxes & Fees
- Maintenance
- Repairs
The Edmunds Company has posted a great “True Cost to Own” (TCO) page that helps determine what your vehicle is costing you over a five-year period, based on being driven an average 15,000 miles a year. The calculator offers new or used options, for model years 2003 thru 2007. The link is below, and when you’ve figured the “True Cost to Own” for your vehicle, along with total cash price and the average cost per mile, compare your car with the ones below.
Just remember, all the figures you come up with are averages, and won’t necessarily be an accurate depiction of your costs.
What Are the Ten Cheapest Cars to Drive? They’re Not Hybrids!
The Edmunds company used their calculator to look at the latest 2008 model vehicles, to see which ones would be the cheapest to own over a five year period. Surprisingly, there isn’t a single hybrid in the bunch, as a matter of fact, hybrids didn’t do all that well.
A quick rundown of the least expensive in order:
- Chevrolet Aveo 5 Special Value 4dr Hatchback
- Hyundai Accent GS2dr Hatchback
- Honda Fit 4 dr Hatchback
- Toyota Yaris 2dr Hatchback
- Honda Civic DX 4dr Sedan
- Nissan Versa 1.8 S 4d Hatchback
- Mazda MAZDA3 i Sport 4dr Sedan
- Kia Rio 4 dr Sedan
- Scion xB 4 dr Wagon
- Toyota Corolla CE 4dr Sedan
The lease expensive to operate in the first year was the Chevrolet Aveo costing $0.427 a mile to operate.
The Toyota came in at $0.468 a mile for the first year, so you can see the margins are small.
Moving to the Hybrids
Same order, least expensive first:
- Honda Civic Hybrid 4dr Sedan gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Toyota Prius Standard 4dr Hatchback gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Nissa Altima Hybrid 4dr Sedan gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid 4dr Sedan gas/electric hybrid 4A
- Ford Escape 4dr SUV gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Mercury Mariner Hybrid 4dr SUV gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Toyota Camry Hybrid 4dr Sedan gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV gas/electrc hybrid CVT
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4dr SUV AWD gas/electric hybrid CVT
- Lexus RX 400h 4dr SUV gas/electric hybrid CVT.
The Honda Civic Hybrid came in at $.0476 a mile while the last place Lexus RX 400h would cost an estimated $0.897 per mile.
Again, these are estimates based on a system of calculations by the Edmunds Company and explained on their website.
You’ll find the complete totals on the “Hybrid Vehicles Not Best Value According to Edmunds” link below.
So, How Many Hours Do You Have To Work To Own Your Vehicle?
The math should be easy from here, if you work an 8 hour day, 40 hours a week you work 1080 2080 hours a year. Average out the total amount of gas you buy for a year, divide by 1080 2080 and there you have it. Then add that number to the one you found through the Edmunds calculator and that should give you the total number of hours you need to work to support your car.
CNN’s Hours for Gallons Calculator
The Edmunds Cost to Own Calculator
Hybrid Vehicles Not Best Value According to Edmunds
So there you have it, only you will know exactly how much your vehicle is costing you, and if not, I hope these guides will help you determine your own costs.
Happy motoring!
Some Related Articles:
Are Automakers To Blame For Consumer Car-Buying Trends? Auto Alliance Weighs In
Low Cost Gas Engine Innovation Doubles Fuel Economy
High Gas Prices: Empty Tanks Are the New Black In California
Prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid: 88 MPG on 85% Ethanol
Image Credit: http://visiblevote08.logoonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/gas-pump-71806.jpg
This assumes a car is only in use 5 years.The longer you continue to own the vehicle, the more mileage will affect the cost per mile. Particularly for those of us so squeezed for cash that 5 more cents per mile is a large burden, are we really going to get rid of a car after 5 years? If we kept it 10 years a Civic Hybrid or Prius might come out as a better deal, especially if we anticipate gas costs to continue rising down the road.
This is a great way to look at things. It’s all about opportunity cost. Personally, I’d rather have the extra time by not having to work.
Not everyone can just go out and buy a gas sipper, The people that need trucks to work can’t work out a compact car, so those of you who do not need such a vehicle,consider your self lucky as for the average full size pick up holds about 28 to 31 gals of fuel. So lets say you only make 10 to 12 dollars and hour, thats about average for a construction job or most of the jobs these days in florida, which is bad enough pay in florida and have always been the lowest in the country. So lets add that up. So that means 35 to 50% of your pay check goes in the gas tank. And for people making less well then I guess extra starvation is a option. When gas was 3 dollars a gallon, thats still to much. What has happened to our country is that they figured out a way to pay us with 1980 wages and 10 fold or more the cost of living. Good Luck everyone! You may need 3 jobs.
Well we’re close to that recession they’ve been talking about for the past 7 years. The cost of gas will be part of it, and if it gets a few dollars added, it will be a large part of it.
So those of you gloating how close you are to work, I have to ask. Are you as close to the unemployment office in your area?
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Please read–Americans need to know!!!!!!!!
NHTSA Hearings 8/4/08
I just returned from the NHTSA hearings held today (August 4, 2008) in Washington D.C., regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for NEW Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards (CAFÉ) for years 2011-2015.
IMPORTANT FACTS: You will not believe what you are reading.
1) The 414 pages DEIS analysis was based on an average gasoline price of USD $2.16/gallon for 2011-2020. A calculation approved by the NHTSA administrators/managers. Would you believe it???????????
2) The new CAFÉ rules were also established, negotiated and pre-approved by the NHTSA’s management along with the influence of domestic automotive companies and their lobbyists. We have now established fuel standards for 2011-2020 that presently are already met in the rest of the Western world (see below)
As one guest speaker said today “are they on another planet?”
NHTSA “NEW Fuel Standards” (2011-2015) decision:
Automobiles are to achieve 31.2 mpg by 2011 and 35.7 mpg by 2015. Light trucks are to achieve 25 mpg by 2011, and 28.6 mpg by 2015.
The NTHSA is also setting a goal of 35 mpg on average for 2020.
America needs to know:
The European Union is currently establishing standards, with a goal of reaching 48.9 miles per gallon for new passenger vehicles as early as 2012. The current EU standard already requires more than 40 miles per gallon about 15% higher than the U.S. goal set for 12 years from now.
Japan currently has a standard of about 40 miles per gallon. Japan aims to further improve fuel efficiency by 17% by 2015, reaching 46.9 miles per gallon.
China has a current average of slightly under 35 miles per gallon. Chinese fuel standards are on target to reach the government’s goal of 35.8 miles per gallon by 2009. China will not only meet, but exceed, the goal just established by the United States for 2020 — more than a full decade earlier.
Australia is targeting 34.4 miles per gallon by 2010.
Canada is targeting 34.1 miles per gallon by 2010.
Under the current administration, purchasing an electric vehicle is becoming more of a necessity rather than an alternative.
BG Automotive Group, Ltd.
(www.BGelectricCars.com)
hahaha.. yes, we can live with that