So, here in the States, we calculate the efficiency of our car by miles per gallon. The more ground we cover per gallon, the happier we are. Naturally this means we get the best of our car on long road trips where acceleration isn't necessary and we can maintain a speed.
This means that city driving, which involves a great deal of time idling, is viewed as inefficient driving. I got to wondering yesterday if we would look at the whole situation differently if we changed the unit miles into minutes.
I could be like, "Oh yeah, my car gets 30 minutes to a gallon" (if my math is right, this is decent fuel efficiency--the increments don't seem to be too far off mileage).
It might even the fuel efficiency playing field--it might not. Measuring fuel efficiency in minutes would eliminate the view that idling time is wasted gas, but all the acceleration of city drivers would still impact the amount of time they get out of their gas tank. I just wonder. I might have to start tracking the time I spend in my car and evaluating my minutes per gallon.
In truth, I think my car gets about 27 minutes per gallon (right about the same mileage it gets). My daily commute is in town, but I drive at least one 500 mile road trip each month. Instead of averaging it all together, I should track a period of time that is in town only and then track highway time. 'Twould be interesting.
