Is this article, concerning cars and gas mileage, the dumbest thing you've read or heard lately?

Question

Read the article yourself, and make up your own mind, but honestly, this is such backward thinking and indirect logic. What's so hard about the current concept of miles per gallon as we understand it today in the United States??? Why would this new thought pattern to the issue be better? Are some people that bad at basic math problems and every-day concepts?

U.S. drivers should think in gallons per mile: By Reuters

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080619/sc_nm/fuel_efficiency_dc

Answer 1

That's insane.  Its the equivelent of someone not being able calculate money/debt either and the only thing they can associate with is how much the payment is for what they get...  thats a number they can stick in a budget... never mind the factors and costs incurred to arrive at that number.

I'll keep thinking of mine as miles/gallon, thank you.  And yes, it is dumb, but there are so many that need this help!

Answer 2

So the point is to change the units measured, so make a vehicle look more apealing by the amount of fuel used per 100 miles (or per 10000 miles), versus the traditional miles per gallon.

All it is is math. Simple as that. So they tested a theory on some college art majors that can't do math (no offense). If people can't do the math, then all they are going to look at is a number that is more appealing (a very high or very low number depending on the way the fuel economy is figured). The idea is to get the largest number (or the smallest number depending...) to appeal to the public.

THe guy is nuts, leave it the way it is.

Answer 3

Any product can be priced at use per monetary unit, or mass per monetary unit. Choose the system which causes the perception you intend. What if they charged for s*x by the weight of the partner instead of the time elapsed for the act- or the movement of the furniture? E-Hyuck!, You said it!

Answer 4

I agree.  25 mpg is better than 20 mpg.  Period.  

Here is another way to look at mpg.

I always calculate mpg and the cost per mile.

I found a good price of gas on my way home from work.  $3.99 a gallon.  My motorcycle will need about 2 gallons.  Other stations have jumped up to $4.17/$4.19 a gallon.

So I bought 1.895 gallons with 100.6 miles on the trip odometer.  

Just a touch over 53 mpg.

.075 cents per mile

I can ride 26 miles for $1.95 a day at the current rates.  But that will change as the prices go up or down.  Or I am smoother on the throttle.

The author of the article is looking for a solution for a non-existent problem.

Answer 5

They're both bogus idiot numbers

The only number that would really mean anything would be gallons per hour -gph

My Town Car gets like 27 mpg  on the open road and about half of that in city driving

Without getting into the technical stuff of engine efficiency at a given RPM  the reality of the situation is that  on the open road I am driving non stop for an hour and in stop and go traffic I spend a lot of time NOT MOVING!!

.I'm sitting in traffic or at some godawfully  long light and I have 8 cylinders to feed that are not doing what they were intended to do Of course my mpg will be lower

Answer 6

Whats the point the vehicle will still burn the same amount of fuel.

Answer 7

I kind of agree with you. It's unnecessary.But to answer you question about basic math.When is the last time you got the correct change when you bought something without the cashier having to look at the register to see what it says.

Answer 8

I think this is a great idea and an alternative way to look at things.