Top Speaker & Consultant Asks: Is Gas Mileage All That Important?

By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:24:15
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

As a nation it seems we’re becoming fixated on the price of a gallon of gasoline.

To an extent, this is only natural. Can you name another product that we use every day that has spiked in price by nearly 50% during the last year or two, and that has nearly doubled from its lowest point during the last eight?

The price of crude oil topped $75 a barrel this past week, a record high, and developments in oil supply and shortages are widely reported, so it shouldn’t be a shock that people are hyper-sensitive to the topic.

Still, you have to wonder, are we overreacting?

For example, I’m not happy with the fuel economy of my smallish SUV. It has a six-cylinder engine, appears tiny next to a Navigator or Escalade, and it looks like a micro-car next to a Hummer.

With the air conditioning blasting on 100 degree days, as it has been lately, I’m getting about 11 miles to the gallon in the city.

I hate this.

Am I having an irrational reaction?

Was I promised a rose garden?

Yes and no. The EPA mileage estimate for the city was 16, which isn’t 11. But now, we know from recent disclosures that the phrase “Your mileage may vary” is really a hoot.

When the EPA does its tests, the air conditioning is off and highway speeds are no more than 55 miles per hour. I understand this will change, soon.

From an economic point of view, a $3.35 versus a $2.35 gallon of premium gas is statistically great, but financially modest, given the other fixed costs of driving.

I drive about 1000 miles per month. I’m consuming about 85 gallons, so more expensive gas is costing me $85 additional dollars per month. Given the fact that my payments for my lease, for insurance, for tires and maintenance come to about $1,000 per month, my overall added cost of driving has been a mere 8.5%.

My fixed costs are higher than many, but still, a 42.5% increase in the price of premium gas has made my overall costs only 8.5% higher.

So, what do those Escalade and Navigator and Hummer drivers, or I for that matter, have to complain about?

Even if I got 30 miles per gallon, my overall costs of driving wouldn’t drop significantly, all other things being equal.

As long as these sorts of economics inform the costs of driving, people will not have a significant incentive to economize, unless they’re concerned about global warming, geopolitics, and dependency on unstable, foreign nations.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is the best-selling author of 12 books, over 700 articles, and the creator of numerous audio and video training programs, including "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant-a favorite among salespeople and entrepreneurs. For information about booking Gary to speak at your next sales, customer service or management meeting, conference or convention, please address your inquiry to: gary@customersatisfaction.com

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Politics category

  • A Race Hanging By a Thread - By: Bobby Miller s
    I have never spoken a kind word about the Israelis in my life, but it's simply impossible to deal with these hate-consumed Arabs.
  • The Politics of a Great Headline - By: Colleen Davis
    Election time is just around the corner and candidate's are out in full force pushing their campaigns with posters and signs on every other corner. Add this to the regular influx of ads hitting the streets every week
  • President Searching With a Fine Tooth Comb - By: Ajeet Khurana
    The US Presidential elections are due in 2008. Intelligent voters always weigh their options before choosing someone as President.
  • The Insurgency in Southern Thailand - By: Matt Crook
    Thai premier Surayud Chulanont has reacted to escalating violence in Thailand’s southernmost regions by traveling to the area and making his latest move towards ending decades of violence.The insurgency in southern Thailand has received major media attention in the wake of a series of violent incidents centered in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.The history of this separatist movement can be traced back to the early twentieth century when in 1902 Patani was annexed by Thailand (then known as Siam).
  • John Kerry, Republicans, & Our Military: So Irate Together - By: Stephen Oakes
    What do John Kerry, Republicans, and now the U.S. military have in common?
  • Fighting Dem's, Hiding Dem's, and All Things in Between - By: Greg Reeson
    The latest television campaign ad in the Virginia Senate race features two of the primary election approaches engineered by Democratic strategists for this November's mid-term contest: attacking the President's judgment and competence and appealing to the patriotism and dedication to service of current and former military members. These two campaign tactics, along with a third, newer strategy that just emerged in recent weeks, form the core of Howard Dean's plan for winning back the House and Senate after twelve years of Republican control.The first part of the campaign strategy centers on attacking the Republican candidate, Senator George Allen, by framing him as "guilty through association" for his support of the President and his policies.
  • American Government's Chief Cornerstone and Indissoluble Bond - By: Paul Davis
    Our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor for the freedoms we now possess and so casually take for granted.Samuel Adams, the Father of the American Revolution, the patriot and leader who brought about our famous saying, “No taxation without representation” he said:“The right to freedom being the gift of the Almighty… The rights of the colonists as Christians…may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institution of The Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.”On September 6, 1774, the second day of he Continental Congress, Samuel Adams proposed that one session be opened with prayer.
  • Will Europe Go Left Or Right - By: Eric Sutherland
    With Merkal in West Germany being pragmatic by pushing through benefit reforms and the big German companies pushing the unions to agree new conditions in exchange for jobs to remain in Germany and respond to Globalisation by moving production to low cost Eastern European or Asian countries. These conditions covered both working practices and redundancy benefits payable. In Germany it appears to be working, with the increase in output and the only country in socialist Europe.
  • New Era in the UN - By: Ziv Maor
    Does the appointment of Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary General bode well for UN-US relations? What challenges does Ki-moon face? A quick sketch of the pre-eminent diplomat On September 13 2006, the UN Security Council approved the appointment of Ban Ki-moon as the next UN Secretary General.
  • Creating Righteous U.S. Government - By: Ed Howes
    In truth, I am more than a little surprised nuclear regime change has not yet happened in America. Whatever has prevented it is certainly not the Department of Homeland Security. Far more likely millions of sincere prayers for mercy on these miserable offenders have delayed what may be inevitable.