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Author
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Topic: Gas Prices in your area
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Monte L Fullmer
Film God
Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
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posted 04-11-2005 03:52 AM
I have to admonish and praise the Europeans for their auto manufacturers, since with the price of fuel there is so much higher than here in the States.
I've seen cars over there with such smaller engines-from 800cc to up to 1.1L engines-necessary for high fuel mileage and endurance per Kilo/Litre. Plus with this high price, not everybody in Europe can just jump in and pump in 55L plus of fuel at a whack per week.
These people have learned to do without sometimes and have proven it that it can be done in a fashionable manner.
Maybe, we US citizens need to take notice of our European neighbours - learn a lesson or two from them.
Stay home more and keep the cars at bay.
Reduce your fuel spending, or get a smaller car that can get better mileage.
SUV's are nice and roomy, but at 13mpg, is it worth it? Where a nice Accord, Camry, or any newer 4 cylinder midsize car can give you better mileage, where you don't have to hit the pumps every week.
Don't rely on hybrid vehicles to be the "golden ticket" for fuel savings. Yes, the small Honda and the Toyota have proven their worth as a hybrid, but when they do the hybrid thing for larger vehicles, there isn't that much difference because of the weight of the vehicle and the engine size. Plus, the price is so much greater for hybrids that money is thrown away on lease payments for these types of vehicles.
Also, with the price going up and up, I can see 55mph being posted back on the freeways. (remember the oil embargo of '74 when we experienced the first shock wave of fuel reduction..?)
Better watch out, the horse and buggy days might be returning if we don't take care of ourselves and our country.
thx-monte
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-11-2005 07:17 AM
quote: William Hooper
What was your cost for the conversion? Is it difficult to find places for passenger cars to fuel with LPG? How does the fuel mileage differ?
The conversion cost just over £1,100. I started to seriously investigate the idea after a friend had her car done by this place, about 20 miles up the road from me. I haven't done the MPG sums, but the average cost per mile for my car (Ford Mondeo Zetec 2.0 litre) at the time I converted and based on 80p a litre of petrol/gasoline was 10.2p. On LPG at 37.9p a litre, the per mile cost is 5.9p. That works out at a 42% fuel cost saving per mile after the conversion. The MPG is about 15-20% lower for LPG than for petrol (at a rough guess I was getting 37ish on petrol and am getting 30-32 on LPG), but the litre for litre cost differential is about half.
Again, based on these figures, I worked out that the break even point would come at 32-34k miles after the conversion. I do 25-28k miles a year; therefore I was looking at 14-15 months. Given that I was planning to keep the car for another 2-3 years, the sums added up. There are also slightly higher service costs to factor in: an LPG car needs its oil changed every 5k miles even if the normal service interval is 10k, and the gas system needs a service every 20k miles, costing around £50.
Since I converted 15k miles ago, petrol has gone up by 5p a litre, while LPG has held steady. I haven't done the detailed sum again, but reckon at a rough guess that the break even point will now come at around 30k, meaning around October/November in my case. This assumes that petrol doesn't come significantly down from 85p and LPG doesn't start going up.
The two major drawbacks are the gas tank capacity and, as you point out, availability of filling stations. I could get 450 miles from a tank of petrol (62 litres), but only around 330 on gas (tank rated water capacity=70 litres, more like 60 allowing for expansion room). So now I have to fill up at least twice a week, whereas previously I'd get away with one refuel in most weeks. There is one LPG station directly on my route to work, and two others which involve a 3 or 5 mile detour. But on long drives to places I don't normally go, it is a case of looking up the location of some filling stations on the LPG Association's website. I'd guess that around 1 in 10 filling stations have an LPG pump, most of them in rural areas where high mileage drivers tend to live. The car will still run on petrol as well as LPG, so if I did run out I could just switch over: but so far this hasn't happened.
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Adam Wilbert
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 590
From: Bellingham, WA, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 04-11-2005 02:50 PM
Biodiesel is awesome. There are a couple of gas stations around me that are stocking this now, and probably half a dozen privately operated trucks that will come to your house and fill up your car. The price is about a nickle more a gallon that unleaded, but as demand goes up, they expect the price to fall with economies of production.
When I left Phoenix, the city had just converted most of its fleet vehicles to CNG or propane (i think)and transit purchased a fleet of Liquid natural gas buses. They were in the process of building public alt-fuel stations that offered CNG, LNG, Propane and ethanol. Then I move to "green" Washington, and we only have yahoos trucking fry oil around. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
BTW, the hybrid accord rocks. More HP than the standard, and it drops down to three cylinders at freeway speeds!
we should also post our average MPG here. I really can't feel sorry for people if they're driving cars that only get 11 miles per gallon. 33 +/-2 mpg for me.
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Paul Mayer
Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under!
Posts: 3836
From: Albuquerque, NM
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 04-12-2005 11:38 AM
No car these days, so really really good gas mileage via city bus, bike, walking, and as of this week, scooter. I imagine the scooter will get great mileage, on the order of 100 miles/gallon or so, plus no license, registration, or insurance required.
Repeating 'Vegas gas prices for this week at the corner Chevron:
Regular - $2.53
Mid-grade - $2.63
Premium - $2.73
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