Cost of gasoline, worldwide- Good thing we bike

[hebe]

... My car gets very average mileage (18 mpg), it's almost 9 years old, and has AWD, which is necessary where I live.

I think this illustrates perfectly one of the differences between countries with a history of lower fuel prices and those with a history of higher prices. In the States there doesn't seem to be any real pressure on manufacturers to make cars that are more economical to run. Over here, it's not just a case of how much it costs to fill your tank, but also how much tax you pay on your company car and how much VED (erroneously known as road tax) you pay - both are mimimised if you run a car that has lower CO2 emissions. Once policy changes are announced we soon see changes in the new cars that are offered to us. Over here, 18mpg would be considered quite poor, rather than average. I have a small car that does a lot of stop/start short journeys and I typically get 48mpg from it. I should be getting more too. I think my husband's last-but-one one was an Audi saloon with AWD, and that cleared 30mpg on shorter journeys. I honestly think that there needs to be a seismic shift in what car manufacturers are offering, in order for fuel usage to come down.

[Blueberry]

FWIW I'm in the US, and I don't think 18 mpg is average for a car. Maybe an SUV, but not a car. One of our cars averages in the mid-20's (up to 30 on the highway). The other, newer one approaches 40 on the highway.

I don't know of very many cars here that would approach 50, though....

[tulip]

I agree, 18mph is quite low for a car. Even my friend's pickup truck gets 22-25. My little car gets 30 last time I kept track, which I consider only okay. I put just over $50 in it a couple of weeks ago; thankfully I don't drive it much.

I do think that car manufacturers are starting to finally offer higher mileage vehicles, although it's taken them way too long over here. Part of the reason is that people won't drive small cars here. My car is small here, and when I rented one just like it in Europe, it was considerably larger than many of the cars on the road. I would love a Peugeot 206 diesel, but there's no way to get one here.

[Catrin]

I agree that 18mph does sound much lower than average - for a new car. Wasn't it just 3 years or so ago when the car industry had their hands slapped for advertising much higher gas mileage for many of their models than anyone with average driving habits could hope to attain?

My last three cars got >30mph, and it tends to be higher in the summer as I do more highway driving.

I am happy with my move from the Lancer to the Soul. Still a foreign car, but the Soul gets slightly better mileage, I sit up higher so I don't feel lost in a forest of SUVs around me at the lights, and it doesn't take up much of a parking space. For some odd reason it is considered a "small station wagon", but it works.

This year I hope to get a bit more comfortable with urban riding so that, perhaps, I can start riding for a little more than pleasure. Considering where I shop though I can't see my being able to do that by bike... I live 20 miles from work, and would like to attempt a commute at some point, we will see.

[Owlie]

I agree, 18mph is quite low for a car. Even my friend's pickup truck gets 22-25. My little car gets 30 last time I kept track, which I consider only okay. I put just over $50 in it a couple of weeks ago; thankfully I don't drive it much.

I do think that car manufacturers are starting to finally offer higher mileage vehicles, although it's taken them way too long over here. Part of the reason is that people won't drive small cars here. My car is small here, and when I rented one just like it in Europe, it was considerably larger than many of the cars on the road. I would love a Peugeot 206 diesel, but there's no way to get one here.

Depends on how old the car is, though. My Honda's nearly 13 years old and gets about 20 mpg city and 27 highway, ideally. As far as I can tell, that was decent back when the car was new. A 2012 Accord (with approximately the same specs as my car) gets 23mpg city and 34 on the highway.

My car gets better gas mileage than my friend's Pontiac of the same year, though.

[zoom-zoom]

All 3 cars currently in our driveway average ~28. One is a compact car (Mazda 3). 28mpg is not great for a car that size/weight and the newer ones are more efficient. The old Mazda 626 is midsized...28mpg is pretty average for a car that size (both Mazdas have 150-160hp). We have a 4-5 year old Toyota Rav4 that is significantly larger and ballsier than the Mazdas, but the mpg rating is about the same.

18mpg isn't even close to average. Not when there are a lot of non-hybrid, non-diesel cars on the road getting at least 2x the mpg. Perhaps if one lives in an area where everyone drives large SUVs and pick-up trucks 18mpg might be average.

[Becky]

I guess it depends how that mileage is being reported. If we're talking about the CAFE standard "town" mileage, then yes, 18 mpg is probably normal. However, CAFE is a) a worst-case, "cold engine, AC on" metric, and b) not representative of typical mixed-use driving. My car's CAFE standard is 19/26 (town/highway), but I routinely get 25+ mpg and I can break 30 mpg on a long trip. Let's just make sure that we're comparing apples to apples here.

That said, I agree with the sentiments of this thread and, in particular, Hebe's eloquently-stated observation about a desperately-needed seismic shift.

[Crankin]

Well, my car is a 2003 BMW 325X; at the time I wanted a small sedan with AWD and there weren't a lot to choose from. Subaru, Mercedes, and Volvo. I wanted more of a luxury car, so I drove the BMW, the Mercedes, and the Volvo. The BMW had the most for the $, and the Volvo was too big and not much different than the one I had in 1983. So, maybe the mileage is 20 or 22 for around town, but at the time, I didn't care; I hardly drove compared to now. I already had a big SUV and a mini vann, so I wanted small. AWD is a requirement to get up my driveway/street. Now there are a lot more choices with better mileage. As someone who learned to drive in the snow at age 36, it's frightening enough to me. I'll probably have my car another year and hopefully, there will be more choice. Right now I have to decide if I want to switch jobs to save driving mileage, before I plan to get a new car.