Miles per gallon shows how efficient a car uses gasoline. More efficient cars use less gasoline and reduce emissions into the air. In addition, if you notice a significant drop in the miles per gallon your car is getting, it may reflect a problem with the car that needs to be repaired.
Calculating Miles per Gallon
Many new cars today automatically calculate the miles per gallon the car receives. For those with older models that do not calculate mpg automatically, simply divide the amount of miles driven by the amount of fuel used. To do this, fill your tank full of gas and reset the trip odometer. The next time you fill up your tank, divide the number of miles driven by the number of gallons you had to put into your car. For example, if you drove 360 miles and you put 20 gallons of gas in to refill your tank, you car got 18 miles per gallon.
Improving Miles Per Gallon
There are several practical steps individuals can take to make sure they are getting the maximum miles per gallon from their car. Driving the speed limit on the highway can increase efficiency---once a car starts going faster than 60 miles per hour, the efficiency of the car decreases. Also, removing excess weight from the car will require it to use less energy. Finally, minimizing the time a car idles will improve efficiency; when a car is idling, it is using fuel but not covering any distance.
Calculating Gallons Per Mile
Two Duke professors claim that instead of looking at miles per gallon, the best way to measure costs associated with driving is to compare how many gallons it takes to drive a certain number of miles. According to the article, the average American drives about 10,000 miles per year. If you purchases a car that got 18 miles per gallon rather than 15 miles per gallon, even though the difference is only three miles per gallon, your car would need 111 less gallons of fuel for the year. If you purchases a car that got 50 miles per gallon rather than 35 miles per gallon, even though the difference is 15 miles per gallon, the car would only need about 85 more gallons of gas per year.
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