The Seasonal Costs of Driving
I gassed up the car the other day after hitting a record-setting (for my Forester) 575.5 km (357.6 miles) on a tank of gas. In fact, in retrospect, based on the capacity of my tank (60 liters/15.85-gallons) I could have safely hit another 40 km (25 miles) to clear 600 km.
By way of contrast, last December I once eked out just 426.5 km (265 miles) on a tank of gas.
As I sat back thinking how much better summer driving is on the mileage than winter driving (150 km better!), I realized that the gas prices are higher now. That December tank of gas cost an absurdly-low $1.68/gallon (you’re on your own for the metric conversion with this one). My recent trip to Costco ran $2.95/gallon. And that means my tank of winter gas was $15 less.
So which is better? Summer or winter driving? More miles, more cost versus less miles, less cost. Is it a wash?
Nope! Surprisingly (?), the winter driving is better.
To break it down, I figured out the cost per mile. I spent about 9 cents to travel a mile on that tank in the winter, and 12 cents for the tank I re-filled yesterday. I may be filling up less often in the summer, but those fewer trips are pricey.
Because I’m a geek, I went back through my records (yes, I know the fact I have records is geek-times-geek geeky).
Unfortunately, they’re only time-stamped through last August so I don’t have a lot of seasonal data. But in that time, my spring/winter/fall costs are pretty routine at 9 cents per gallon – and once just 8 cents (another December fill-up but with slightly-less-than-awful mileage). The only time it has exceed that 9 cent cost are my two summer fill-ups: Aug ‘08, 17 cents per mile; yesterday, 12 cents per mile. (Again, I leave the liter/100 km conversions to you.)
Bottom line: winter driving may suck for the environment and the usage of renewable resources, but it rocks for the wallet.
PS I don’t actually track this myself. I use fuelly.com. It’s a cool site. Go sign up and track lots of datum. Er, data.
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