Adjustable rate mileage 6

Your fuel mileage is lower than you think.

Granted, that assumes you do not fastidiously monitor your own fuel mileage -- that instead you take the EPA's fuel mileage estimates at their word.

Turns out, the EPA calculates fuel economy with "straight" (100 percent) gasoline. However, in the consumer market a blend of 10 percent ethanol, E10, is nearly universal. Jonathan Welsh of The Wall Street Journal explains:

Fuel economy decreases by about 2% for vehicles running on E10, so a car rated at 25 miles per gallon will actually travel about 24.5 miles.

Okay, this decrease is peanuts if you're a lead-foot. And the EPA just started including air conditioning with this year's estimates. Nevertheless, even with perfect driving habits, the fuel economy of your brand new Prius will never match the sticker's claims.

Sara Barz is a writer based in Seattle.

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  1. JMG's avatar

    JMG Posted 9:38 am
    25 Jul 2008

    Good news!An Oregon state senator who helped impose an ethanol mandate is sobering up and vows to change it:
    http://news.opb.org/article/2666-oregons-ethanol-mandate- ...

    The 5% Project

    Permalink

  2. NSaggie Posted 10:45 am
    25 Jul 2008

    hypermilersHypermilers can get better than the stated fuel economy.
    Definitely adjustable rate mileage ;)

    Permalink

  3. JMG's avatar

    JMG Posted 12:57 pm
    25 Jul 2008

    America sobering up!http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/business/26ethanol.html ...

    The 5% Project

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  4. Wolverine Posted 7:28 am
    26 Jul 2008

    Ethanol Has Become A JuggernautAgribusiness is making a fortune off ethanol.  This crap now has large momentum and will be difficult to stop.  Congressional representatives, most of whom are in the pockets of agribusiness or just support it ideologically, or both, support ethanol.  It's too bad some of us were fooled early on and that this project ever got going, but it now has inertia on its side.

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  5. timbuktu Posted 9:13 am
    26 Jul 2008

    More ways to increase efficiencyHypermiling is one technique to improve fuel efficiency while driving; another simple step that people often ignore is vehicle maintenance. Replacing old PCV valves, using high flow air filters, and installing a more efficient muffler can increase efficiency by up to 40%. There are also ways to minimize the amount of the gas in your tank lost to evaporation. More tips: Simple Fuel Efficiency

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  6. mileageguru Posted 1:32 am
    04 Aug 2008

    Automatic Mileage LoggerThere is an exciting new tool provided by http://www.MileageLogger.com that will eliminate the pain of logging those miles by hand. You might want to check it out.

    Permalink

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