<VV> Gas, Petrol, Benzin etc. costs

[Dave Keillor]

A key fact to consider is the average annual cost of fuel for a typical
driver.  Europe is much more compact than the US and has much better
public transportation.  A straight cost per gallon comparison is not
very meaningful.  Also, taxation is often used as a means to implement
social policy.  For example, if the government desires to encourage the
purchase of small displacement cars, they can tax the heck out of large
displacement cars.

We recently experienced the role that the size of the country can play
in fuel expenses.  We rented a 1962 Jaguar Mark 2 for a tour of
Scotland.  The Jag got approximately 15 miles per gallon, and petrol
averaged about $1.05 per liter.  (Speed limits were in miles per hour
and petrol was sold by the liter -- strange!)

While the per gallon (or per liter) cost was fairly high, we only filled
the car up once a day at a cost of approximately 40 pounds (about $64
per day).  The roads were two lane, or sometimes one lane, so instead of
driving 500-700 miles a day like we often do in the states, we averaging
around 150 miles per day.

Like so many other comparisons, price per gallon is not always
apples-to-apples.

Dave Keillor
 

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of HallGrenn at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 11:30 AM
To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: <VV> Gas, Petrol, Benzin etc. costs

The December Road & Track has a very interesting summation of oil  
consumption and production worldwide.  One of the
comparisons--taxes--reminded me 
of how different the old car hobby economics are  for us depending on
where 
we live--in the US there are differences state by  state because state
fuel 
taxes run from zero in Alaska to 64.5 cents in  California--and
country--the 
Netherlands has the highest priced automobile fuel  ($6.25) while we
were 
paying about $2.23 at the same time on average.  On  top of that other 
countries--especially Europe--pay an annual road tax that is  typically
based on 
the size of the engine and/or the weight of the  vehicle.
 
So my various hats are off to our foreign (and that includes southern  
California :)) Corvair lovers and the higher costs they incur to be able
to  
enjoy their Corvairs (but I still think our Dutch friends need to run
premium 
in  their turbos instead of regular fuel while staying off the boost).
 
Bob Hall
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