Fuel Prices in Your Area

[trollhameran]

alot of people in the UK are getting no where now though because the truck drivers are striking and refusing to deliver petrol to stations, here in Devon Morrisons is about the only place that has petrol

[jon_89]

my car only gets 16 miles per gallon. Does europe have the same emission standards as the US?

[Blitz]

More than likely, jon -- what kind of car do you have?

FWIW, my Avalanche gets about 19-21MPG, which for a fullsize truck, isn't half-bad.

[The_Kangsta]

its $ 1.50 in vancouverit was $1 last year

[jon_89]

acura with a v6 2.7 liter.

[MaxuS the 2nd]

To guys in the UK. Yes gas is cheaper here. But you have to factor in the mass amount of travel needed to run the US economy compared to the UK economy. We have alot more open spaces. I'm sure the average Brits fuel costs are alot less than the average American's.

It just occured to me that wouldn't this make the fuel economy on those vehicles better?
Afterall, travelling on long routes (not driving too fast/too slow) raises the fuel economy considerably.

All of you guys over in America probably pay the same as us in the Uk do in fuel because your vehicles are half as efficient, but your fuel is half the price.
So it's about the same.
No-one take that as an insult, it's just the way it is.

[jon_89]

So why do cars in europe get better gas mileage than cars in the US?

[Pilgrimman]

To my knowledge, a main factor is that they're much smaller. My car gets ~25 mpg, but it's average size. Take, say, a mini cooper size, and you have to haul less car!

[jimmy101]

So why do cars in europe get better gas mileage than cars in the US?

Because most Europeans aren't infatuated with 5,000 LB, 400 HP vehicles. For years the number one selling "car" in the US was the Ford F-150 pickup truck. The F-150 is roughly 4,500 LB and what 180~350 HP (depending on the engine), it is an incredibly inefficient way to move a single person.

[Ragnarok]

So why do cars in europe get better gas mileage than cars in the US?

For starters, it probably helps that the standard imperial gallon is 1.2 US gallons, so for a start, even in an equally efficent car, you'll go 20% further on an imperial gallon, something that needs consideration in this case.

The other thing is that a large number of European cars tend to be smaller with engines not much larger than a thimble, which is generally a good thing for fuel efficiency. There are heavy incentives to EU car manufacturers to get emissions down - or rather, heavy penalties will soon strike if they don't get their acts together - which has the side effect of better fuel efficiency.

[Blitz]

It should also be worth noting that most EU countries pay insane amounts of taxation on gasoline. Maxus, you're somewhat correct though, but it doesn't quite balance out. There are other factors in play -- Americans generally have very long commutes (sometimes in distance and often in time); and in a normal, uncongested environment, better fuel economy would certainly be prevalent. But then there's most metropolitan areas...

I'm going to use myself as an example since I feel I have a fairly average "commute" for someone in a major US metro area (Chicago).

My commute is just over 24 miles, or about 39km. Now before the cries of "get a better job that's closer to home" ring out, it's just a fact of life that around here, it's rarely that easy. Chicago has definitely evolved (if that's the word you want to use) into a city where massive clumps of commercial/industrial parks sprawl and huddle together in central areas of transportation, like around highway interchanges and the such. Therefore, many other people are heading into these areas, and when everyone's going the same ways, that's when congestion builds up. The roads' capacity are exceeded every days with thousands of vehicles an hour and normal traffic flow just cannot be sustained.

So going back to my commute, I travel 24 miles. In the morning, on the particular stretch of interstate highway I drive on, it takes me ~40 minutes to reach work from my driveway. In the evening, it takes about the same, but ONLY because I leave work at 3pm everyday and I beat rush hour. During rush hour, it has taken me nearly 90 minutes to get home. This is because in the morning, people in the western suburbs go all directions, not just east like me But in the evening, EVERYONE heads west from the City (Chicago proper) to go home. It's just a fact of life, and a part of Chicago's very complex traffic patterns. And this doesn't even factor in construction that plagues Chicago's roadways 7 days a week. There's a saying here -- there's two seasons. Winter and construction. And the construction definitely impedes traffic.

So to work, I get about 22mpg with my truck (I do not drive faster than the speed limit), and from work, I get about 18mpg, due to more idling. If I left at a normal time, I would be getting about 15-16. Congestion kills fuel economy, and unfortunately, it's a part of most people's lives here.

I'm going to guess that besides some people in London or Birmingham or Leeds, there aren't a lot of these same commutes (and I'm just using the UK for an example), not to mention there are more mass transit options that would cut that severely.

In terms of vehicles, Rags really summed it up well though. It's great to have a mid-sized car get 50+mpg when it's not even a hybrid. There are many families that require at least that sized car, and on the other hand like jimmy said, there are many individuals who don't need a full-size truck. America is a country who loves to drive their cars. It's like a past-time; almost an obsession, like one of the hallmarks of freedom being able to travel wherever, whenever. With this, came complacency with fuel-inefficient hot-rods because of super-cheap gas. I admit, I am somewhat guilty of this. It was my choice to choose a gas-sucking truck (I HATE the term gaz guzzler, such a buzzword) but I put it to good use. Not to mention it's much more comfortable.

I personally blame ourselves. We generally put ourselves in this "turmoil" but the rise in gas prices was inevitable, and long overdue considering our world today. Not that I wanted it to, though... It gets painful to have $110 tank fillups!

[iemand]

So why do cars in europe get better gas mileage than cars in the US?

That's because people in Europe can't afford a use-a-lot-drive-a-little car like those in the US.

In here(the Netherlands) 1 litre gas costs €1,70 ($2.63), and above all, the Dutch prime-minister has just raised all of the (driving)taxes.

The diesel(1 litre=€1,30 -> $2,01) now costs as much as the gas was at the beginning of this year, all because of a tax on diesel with a low amount of sulphur. That tax added €0,56 to the litre price.

So it's time to invent a car that can drive on water, and most of all, is cheap

[Blitz]

So why do cars in europe get better gas mileage than cars in the US?

So it's time to invent a car that can drive on water, and most of all, is cheap

They did, it's called a boat. I knew what you meant!

[goathunter]

So it's time to invent a car that can drive on water, and most of all, is cheap Razz

Wouldn't make a difference. Your water bill would just skyrocket because they wouldn't be able to tax petroleum. Taxes always go up. They rarely if ever go down. When they do, democracies vote in people who will raise them . Lovely how that works

[808AirsoftGunner]

here in hawaii it about 4.25 a gallon in honolulu