Cash for Clunkers ended Aug. 24. US automaker Ford cashed in big time with its Focus and Escape. So did Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda. GM & Chrysler (not many gas-sippers available) were kinda left out.
But now what? Supplies are reduced, but automakers seem to think stability is coming. Production is increasing. Sales are improving. The worst seems to be over for all.
Don’t believe myths about how to improve your gas mileage.
1. Never use regular gas if your manual says “premium gas recommended‘. False. Regular gas is OK and you can save $$. If your manual says “premium gas required“, you better buy it. Else engine knocking & faster engine wear.
2. Buy gas at night or early morning in the summer because cold gas is more dense. False. Even is you do succeed in buying “cold gas” (and this is complicated), the difference in density is slight (maybe 1%). Savings are marginal.
3. Shopping around for cheaper gas isn’t worth the mileage. False. Let your fingers do the walking online. If you’re traveling, crossing state lines may save you $$.
4. You need to drive 55 to stay alive (and get the best gas mileage). False. Fuel efficiency doesn’t drop until you get over 60 mph. Consistency on the gas pedal(smooth driving) makes a much bigger difference than how fast you drive.
5. A car with manual transmission will always get better mileage than an automatic. False. Not any more. Newer automatics can get same or slightly better than manual. Maybe not for city driving, but on the highway–definitely.
6. Open windows & kill A/C to save gas. False. At high speeds especially, leaving windows open increases wind resistance and cancels out the savings. Oh and btw, you don’t have to keep the A/C going full blast at all times. Once the car is cool, turn it down and adjust your vent settings.
President-Elect Barack was interviewed on 60 Minutes last night.
One of the questions he was asked by Steve Kroft was about whether his priorities have changed with regard to energy independence, since the price of gas has come down dramatically. Far-sighted Obama answers:
(CBS) Kroft: When the price of oil was at $147 a barrel, there were a lot of spirited and profitable discussions that were held on energy independence. Now you’ve got the price of oil under $60.
Mr. Obama: Right.
Kroft: Does doing something about energy is it less important now than…
Kroft: Why?
Mr. Obama: Well, because this has been our pattern. We go from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again.
And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.
It’s more important than ever.
Duke University researchers say thinking gallons/mile rather than miles/gallon gives a person a much clearer picture of fuel savings.
There is a math illusion here,” said Richard Larrick, a management professor at Duke University, whose research appears in the journal Science.
Larrick said most people think improvements in miles per gallon are all the same, where a 5 gallon per mile improvement would yield the same gas savings in a car that gets 10 miles per gallon or 20 miles per gallon. (One mile equals 1.61 kilometers, and one U.S. gallon equals 3.79 liters.)
“The reality that few people appreciate is that improving fuel efficiency from 10 to 20 miles per gallon is actually a more significant savings than improving from 25 to 50 miles per gallon for the same distance of driving,” Larrick said.
Larrick experimented on college students, giving them a small test of car choices with fuel efficiency expressed in miles/gallon. Students had problems determining the greatest gain in fuel efficiency.
When he turned it around to gallons/mile, the change in fuel efficiency was obvious
To help you out, here’s a conversion table Larrick’s team developed.
29 years ago, then President, Jimmy Carter, told Americans the energy crisis was:
“a clear and present danger to our nation” and drew out a plan to address it.
Listen here to today’s story:
He was so ahead of his time.