BlogHer - Fuel economy - Comments

#2 Fill up slow? No! Exactly the opposite !

crgwllms — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:13:30 -0500

I don't believe this is true because petrol fumes aren't caused by agitation. The speed of the flow doesn't have anything to do with creating fumes...they happen because of the evaporative nature of fuel, and the relative density of the atmosphere above the liquid. Actually, speed DOES have a lot to do with it....the faster you can get the fuel in and whack the cap on the tank, the less is going to evaporate into the atmosphere! So I actually believe you should do the total opposite of tip 2!

Smart and Cost Effective

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:42:38 -0600

Did you note this would cut fuel costs by at least 50%? woo hoo!

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
www.carblabber.com

This seems smart

Virginia DeBolt — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:41:29 -0600

when compared with using millions of gallons of water to grow corn for ethanol.

http://www.webteacher.ws/
http://first50.wordpress.com/

I feel your pain

Mayasorchid — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:38:49 -0600

Kalyn,

I was in the exact same boat as both of you. My husband and I have had great luck with Camry as well. However, we wanted something different but didn't really know how to go about it. We have similar work schedules but are lifestyles were a liitle different and we needed a vehicle to accomodate both of us. Long story short we looked at several websites:
www.edmunds.com This one was good for the overall scene.
www.askpatty.com This was great as it gave me a different perspective of the above.lol.
www.carmatchpro.com This one was great for the overall matching and had an interesting video.

Hope this helps.
Maya

Camry's are hard to trade in

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:36:26 -0600

Yes I owned a Camry too...Very indestructable if you take good care of them and hard to trade in unless it is for a new one!

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
www.carblabber.com

Saving money now

Kalyn Denny — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:05:20 -0600

I've been saving money for a while now for a new car, and I actually have quite a chunk of change in the bank. But I am completely undecided about what kind of car I'd want. I'm kind of anti new cars on the one hand, but on the other hand, having a brand new car just once would be fun. My current car is a Camry, best car I've ever owned and I could very well end up with one of those.

Not very relevant to your question, just letting you know you're not the only one who doesn't know what car to get.

Actually I'm loving having money in the bank so much I might wait another year or so. My Camry has 120,000 miles and is going strong.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

#3 Half full fill-ups? Wait 'til last gallon...

Binksternet — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:06:48 -0600

I think if people wait until the last gallon in their tank before filling up then they'll save more money on gas over time. There will be fewer total fillups per distance traveled and there will be fewer times when the gas cap is popped off and vapor lost at the gas pump. Economy in gas vapor savings increases as the driver gets closer to zero gallons left in the tank; a risky strategy if you guess wrong or if a gas station you were counting on is closed or out of service. In a populated area where there are lots of fillup options, a thrifty driver should always wait until the tank is almost empty before filling. Waiting until there's one gallon left is enough to ensure you find a station.

The gasoline vapor inside a gas tank is at the same pressure no matter how much gas is in the tank--there's always the same amount of gasoline fumes per unit volume of empty space in the tank (assuming the same ambient temperature and weather conditions.) I believe your point is that the gasoline liquid gives up a greater percentage of its volume the lower your tank gets. One gallon of liquid gasoline has the job of filling the rest of a 12-gallon gas tank with fumes whereas eleven gallons in the same tank only have the job of filling one gallon of empty space with fumes. This picture of the process ignores the fact that the eleven gallons already DID fill up the one gallon of empty space with fumes. The last liquid gallon doesn't have to fill the whole tank with fumes--it's already filled by previous gallons.

If a 12-gallon tank in a 20 mpg car has six gallons of liquid gas and six equivalent volume units of gas vapor when you fill up, you'll lose six "volume gallons" of gas vapor at that fillup and sixty volume gallons of gas vapor in 1200 miles of driving (120 miles per half-filled tank and ten half-fills to get 1200 miles.) If you wait to fill the tank when there's only one gallon left, you'll lose 11 volume gallons of gas vapor in one fillup and the same sixty volume gallons in 1200 miles (220 miles per eleven-gallon fillup, 1200 divided by 220 = 5.45 fuel stops to go 1200 miles. 5.45 x 11 = 60.) In short, you lose the same amount of gas vapor from the tank no matter how often you fill up, but the filling-up process loses vapor in and of itself. Vapor is lost to the outside air each time you open your gas cap. Minimize your gas station stops!

Those Numbers Aren't Good Enough

Pam — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:24:30 -0500

Sorry, Detroit (and the rest of you) , that's not good enough. No, scratch that, I'm NOT sorry. The Camry Hybrid is publishing the SAME mileage that my 1984 Tercel got? What the hell? The Accord Hybrid is publishing lower mileage than my regular internal combustion engine?

No, that's not good enough by half. The Prius and the Civic Hybrid continue to be the front runners, but they don't fill the niche for those seeking an economy car, they're still too expensive. This might look like forward motion compared to the fuel hogging SUVs of the last few years, but in longer historical context, they're barely recovered the standards of the Japanese econobox of the 80s.

Not good enough. Go back and try again, car makers.

Nerd's Eye View

Who is Greener...well that depends...

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:55:21 -0500

Check out this post on AskPatty that compares a Hybrid driver to an SUV driver:

So in this post, we will compare the vehicle usage patterns of two drivers – one a hybrid owner (Driver A), and one an SUV owner (Driver B). At first glance, A appears more environmental because she drives a hybrid, but let’s verify whether this is true with some numbers based on these two drivers’ actual life styles.

http://askpatty.com/page.php?ID=1272&t=Is_a_Hybrid_or_an_SUV_greener?_We......

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
www.carblabber.com

The Struggle with Cars

cara mia — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:42:30 -0500

I too, have been considering this dilemma and reading articles about the plug-in cars yet to come.
Is it possible to send a stronger message to auto manufacturers that we are unsatisfied with their sloth-like progress toward fuel efficient cars, let alone alternatively fueled cars?

Many people consider purchasing a new vehicle and are disappointed when comparing fuel economy standards. Car manufacturers make their highest profit when selling the new year's model. What if, instead of settling for a less than satisfactory new car, we stopped buying new cars and searched until we found the most fuel efficient used car for right now. Notifying the car dealerships, the manufacturers and the media, if we have to settle, we're going to settle for the best, fuel efficient used car we can find and we will wait to make that high profit purchase until you, car manufacturer, provide a better product for us to purchase.

My used Toyota Matrix gets 29 miles to the gallon in the City, more than the Saturn VUE which has the world's most uncomfortable back seat ever! I reduce my trips, car pool when I can and daydream of going 0 to 60 in my electric Tesla.

Cara
http://greentallahassee.blogspot.com

Hybrid and Fuel Ecomomy Mindful Vehicle Choices

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:13:49 -0500

Like the 2008 Pontiac Vibe you will see many new choices for greener cars announced so stay tuned!

Here is a list of 2007 Hybrid Choices now:

* Ford Escape Hybrid

* 2WD 36 mpg (city)/31 mpg (highway)
* 4WD 32 mpg (city)/29 mpg (highway)

* Lexus RX 400h - (AWD) 27 mpg (city)/25 mpg (highway)
* Mazda Tribute Hybrid - Twin of Ford Escape Hybrid
* Saturn "Green Line" VUE Hybrid - (2WD) 27 mpg (city)/32 mpg (highway)
* Mercury Mariner Hybrid - (4WD) 32 mpg (city)/29 mpg (highway)
* Toyota Highlander Hybrid

* 2WD 33 mpg (city)/28 mpg (highway)
* 4WD 31 mpg (city)/27 mpg (highway)

* Honda Accord Hybrid- 25 mpg (city)/34 mpg (highway)
* Honda Civic Hybrid- 49 mpg (city)/51 mpg (highway)
* Lexus GS 450h- 25 mpg (city)/28 mpg (highway)
* Toyota Camry Hybrid- 40 mpg (city)/38 mpg (highway)
* Toyota Prius- 48 mpg (city)/54 mpg (highway)
* Saturn "Green Line" Aura Hybrid- 28 mpg (city)/35 mpg (highway)
* Nissan Altima HEV - 42 mpg (city)/36 mpg (highway)

* Chevy Silverado Classic 15 Hybrid

* 2WD 18 mpg (city)/21 mpg (highway)
* 4WD 17 mpg (city)/19 mpg (highway)

* GMC Sierra Classic 15 Hybrid

* 2WD 18 mpg (city)/21 mpg (highway)
* 4WD 17 mpg (city)/19 mpg (highway)

23 GM non Hybrid Vehicles get 30 MPG see the list here:

http://askpatty.typepad.com/ask_patty_/2007/07/gm-takes-the-ca.html

Go here to download and print the 2008 fuel economy guide:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/feg2000.htm

Jody DeVere
President
www.askpatty.com
www.carblabber.com

The Struggle with Cars

Pam — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:46:41 -0500

Jody, we suffered over this at my house. See, my 85 Tercel got 40mpg and when it was abundantly clear that poor Theo needed more work than he was worth, we started shopping for a car. Whew, what a headache. We wanted fuel economy and affordability and there was so little available to us. We also wanted something that worked for our lifestyle - we're big road trip campers. We were hosed. The Escape hybrid cost much more and got lower mileage than the car we ended up with.

We're hamstrung by auto dealers in this. We don't demand higher CAFE standards from the legislature and we don't demand the newest technology from the manufacturers. You shouldn't feel guilty, you should be angry that we're not given the choices. Why are there so many more diesel options in Europe? Why are there so many more econoboxes in Japan? Why can't we have those choices? Why doesn't Detroit make a car for you (and me) that fills the niche we like - sporty, room for our gear and to crash in if we're scared of bears, and economical and green? I don't believe it's because they CAN'T.

FYI, we bought the Vibe. And it still chaps my hide that the car I drive, one a full generation plus newer than my Tercel, does not match the old car's mileage.

Nerd's Eye View