An Unusual Approach to High Gas Prices

By Jason Brommel, Guest Author

High gas prices – that seems to be one of the top headlines in any news publication or show.

People are paying more at the pump, but should we?

Don’t get me wrong – I feel that the oil industry as a whole leaves an extreme amount to behold. They have a stranglehold on the world as the keepers of the vast majority of energy resources used for transportation, so of course the calculations slant in their favor.

But I am going to put aside all of the usual politics and complaining about how oil costs too much now and is draining pockets. Instead of examining the supply side of it – which seems to be the usual topic of discussion in most news arenas – I am going to focus on the demand side of things…

Just a casual observation of a typical roadway can give one an idea that maybe the problem lies more in the consumption of oil, rather than the supply. It seems that the general attitude may be that we are more willing to pay more at the pump than re-evaluate our decisions as to what kinds of cars to drive, how much we drive, and how we drive.

The bottom line is that, someday, the population as a whole will have to change our current habits and attitudes with regards to this. Oil is not an infinite resource, and as such, we should not assume an endless supply. We will not always be able to continue this excessive consumption of oil.

And this responsibility does not rest entirely on the public as a whole. The automakers play a large part in this as well.

So let’s start there. I will put it bluntly. How is it that, in the year 2008, most mass-produced vehicles have a city MPG that ranges from 14-20 miles. Granted, this is a rough estimate, but I feel that I am pretty close to being right on. Just a casual observation of random vehicles on fueleconomy.gov will support this.

This isn’t a vast improvement over what they were 20, 30, or even 40 years ago. I emphasize the word “vast”. Yes, it may be an improvement, but I think that after this amount of time, it should be more than “vast”.

So conspiracy theories aside, why is this?

We all know the technology exists, so why is it not being implemented on a large scale? That is for you to figure out. Maybe more critical thinking in this area, and we all will be compelled to demand more from the industry.

So while I transition from this to my next examination, I will use a personal example. I have been driving a 1998 Honda Civic Sedan for 7 years. I bought it used with 43,000 miles, and now it has 141,000. It still runs great, and I have had an extremely low amount of problems with it. I just do the regular maintenance, and it runs like a top. All components work in it. Heck, not even a headlight has burned out yet.

But of most relevance to this article is that I have been able to enjoy high gas mileage the whole time. I remember when I could fill the tank for $12. Even now, at $3.46/gallon for gas, I can still fill it up from nearly empty for just below $30. And that tank will last me for a solid week of commuting and running errands.

On average, it gets a city gas mileage of between 30 – 32 MPG, and a highway mileage of about 35 – 37 MPG, even at 141,000 miles!

And it doesn’t accelerate like a snail either. It’s not like driving a V8 sports car, but hey, does one really need to go 0 – 60 in 7 seconds?

So my point is, do we all really need huge SUVs with entertainment systems, on-board refrigerators, a huge amount of legroom, and cargo space you could live in? I have hauled an amazing amount of large things in my little Civic. It has fold-down seats and a good-sized trunk, and will carry plenty.

It seats five people, so a family with 3 kids will do fine. Yeah, there may not be a huge amount of room with this many people, but for traveling back and forth to school and such, is 10 minutes of being slightly uncomfortable really going to hurt you? And for commuting, it is super comfortable. I am 6’ 2” tall. One wouldn’t think a small car would be comfortable for a tall person. Wrong again. It is more comfortable than a large SUV, in my opinion.

I think you see the continuation of my point. I don’t feel that we need to be ideally and totally comfortable and have all the conveniences of home when driving back and forth from work or school. A good, reliable, efficient car with enough room for people to sit and transport light items does the job.

There is no longer plenty enough oil for a rapidly expanding population to consume at our will, without making sacrifices, to justify solely concentrating on the supply side of the issue.

We have to make sacrifices to combat rising gas prices.

I feel we need to have a broader understanding that we should expect that automakers produce cars with a city MPG of well over 25. I think it should be more along the lines of over 35 to 40 MPG. And this should only be higher efficiency with having the goal in mind of bring alternative, cleaner, and sustainable technologies to the mainstream.

So that is my view. I guarantee that, by driving a vehicle that gets higher gas mileage, you will not be paying as much for gas. And, you should see that it really is comfortable and that you will be able to do more than you think with a car of that size.

Check Out 39 Vehicles That Get Over 25 mpg

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