Tuesday, March 04, 2003

Gas Prices

I guess gas prices on on the rise again... I wouldn't know. I think the last time I filled the tank was back in mid-February. Most of the time I just walk to wherever I want to go, or take the bus. Besides, $2/gal isn't that expensive on the global scale, prices in the Netherlands 10 years ago were around twice that.

Maybe now, folks will get serious about conservation and fuel efficiency. Back when gas was $1/gal and I was driving about 18k miles per year at 20mpg, I was only spending $900/yr in fuel costs. A new car might have gotten me 26mpg, which would have saved me a whopping $200/year in fuel costs - it's just not enough of a difference to get someone to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Now, once fuel costs hit $3 or $4 per gallon, the balance tilts and saving 10mpg per year really adds up if you're driving 18k miles per year. And paying for one of those turbo-diesel Jettas with the 45mpg starts to become cost effective (figure you should be able to recoup the excess costs in about 4 years to make it worthwhile).

posted by Wuphon's at 9:36 PM