Gallons and Litres?

Question

Why is it that every time I buy a new car the petrol gauge is calibrated in gallons, when petrol is sold in litres? Should we either ditch litres or change the gauges in cars?

Answer 1

Main fact is that there is no law to say that a car HAS to have a fuel gauge.

Answer 2

(As a matter of fact, most countries, including UK, have been ditching gallons in favor of liters.)

There's another reason not to consider either unit in fuel gauges: it's the instrument's LOW accuracy. What's the point of marking L or gal if the you can't trust the readout figures?

So fractions, percentages or simply ticks is the way to go.

(Much the same is true of temp gages - in some cars [Vauxhall/Opel, Toyota] they've even been ditched in favor of a pilot lamp, something I strongly disagree with.)

Answer 3

The petrol gauges aren't set up for gallons, it's set up for fractions ie 1/8, 2/8 etc. It's done that way because it's cheap, and manufacturers don't have to make different gauges for those that measure in metric and imperial.

Because lights and emissions are quite important, gauges aren't they're still easy to read set up in fractions you know.

Answer 4

Most fuel tank gauges show the quantity of fuel left in the tank as a fraction of the total capacity of the tank, i.e. the gauge show eighths, quarters, half etc.  if you look to the instruction/service manual it will show you the capacity of the tank in both litres and gallons.

Answer 5

Because the European Parliament have not yet forced car manufactures  to gauge in litres but that will come next i think