Science and Engineering: Innovation, Research, Education and Economics
December 23, 2007
Bigger Impact: 15 to 18 mpg or 50 to 100 mpg?

This is a pretty counter-intuitive statement, I believe:

You save more fuel switching from a 15 to 18 mpg car than switching from a 50 to 100 mpg car.

But some simple math shows it is true. If you drive 10,000 miles you would use: 667 gallons, 556 gallons, 200 gallons and 100 gallons. Amazing. I must admit, when I first read the quote I thought that it must be an wrong. But there is the math. You save 111 gallons improving from 15 mpg to 18 mpg and just 100 improving from 50 to 100 mpg. Other than those of you who automatically guess that whatever seems wrong must be the answer when you see a title like this I can’t believe anyone thinks 15 to 18 mpg is the change that has the bigger impact. It is great how a little understanding of math can help you see the errors in your initial beliefs. Via: 18 Is Enough.

It also illustrates that the way the data is presented makes a difference. You can also view 100 mpg as 1/100 gallon per mile, 2/100 gallons per mile, 5.6/100 gpm and 6.7 gpm. That way most everyone sees that the 6.7 to 5.6 gpm saves more fuel than 2 to 1 gpm does. Mathematics and scientific thinking are great - if you are willing to think you can learn to better understand the world we live in every day.

Related: Statistics Don’t Lie, But People Can be Fooled - Understanding Data - Seeing Patterns Where None Exists - Optical Illusions and Other Illusions - 1=2: A Proof

3 Responses to “Bigger Impact: 15 to 18 mpg or 50 to 100 mpg?”

  1. turtie Says:

    Nice site here!! The challenge question can be quite difficult! Some nice information and facts; I subscribed. (Yes, I’m an engineer!)

  2. No name provided Says:

    So what you are saying is if I drive a car that gets
    15mpg I’ll have to pay for 667 gallons
    18mpg I’ll have to pay for 556 gallons
    50mpg I’ll have to pay for 200 gallons
    100mpg I’ll only have to pay for 100 gallons

    Wow, your right I’ll keep driving my 100mpg Plug-in Hybrid until I can get my hands on an all electric car.

  3. Gas Price Actually Reducing Driving at Curious Cat Investing and Economics Blog Says:

    [...] Bigger Impact: 15 to 18 mpg or 50 to 100 mpg? - Gas Tax - $8,000 Per Gallon (ink not gas) - South Korea Invests $22 Billion in Overseas Energy [...]

Leave a Reply

Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog © curiouscat.com 2005-2008 powered by WordPress
Curious Cat Alumni Connections

Internal Links

Author

 

John Hunter

Categories

Other

Search Blog

Web Search

Science and Engineering web search

Archives

December 2007
M T W T F S S
« Nov   Jan »
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  

Translate to

Translate to German Translate to Japanese Translate to Chinese Translate to South Korean Translate to Spanish Translate to French