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2 In 3 Misunderstand Gas Mileage; Here's Why

Posted by kdawson on from the bad-at-math dept.

thecarchik sends in this piece, which was published last March but remains timely: "OK, so here's a little test: Which saves more gasoline, going from 10 to 20 mpg, or going from 33 to 50 mpg? If you're like most Americans, you picked the second one. But, in fact, that's exactly backwards. Over any given mileage, replacing a 10-mpg vehicle with one that gets 20 mpg saves five times the gasoline that replacing a 33-mpg vehicle with one that gets 50 does. Last summer, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business released a study that shows how much damage comes from using MPG instead of consumption to measure how green a car is. Management professors Richard Larick and Jack Soll's experiments proved that consumers thought fuel consumption was cut at an even rate as mileage increased."

8 of 1,042 comments (clear)

  1. 3 people in 2 don't know math. by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Funny

    News at 11!

    1. Re:3 people in 2 don't know math. by nmg196 · · Score: 5, Funny

      > 3 people in 2 don't know math

      Wow that's scary. That's nearly half!

    2. Re:3 people in 2 don't know math. by Imagix · · Score: 4, Funny

      There's 10 types of people in the world, those who understand trinary, those who don't, and those who mistake it for binary.

    3. Re:3 people in 2 don't know math. by Dragonslicer · · Score: 5, Funny

      > 3 people in 2 don't know math

      Wow that's scary. That's nearly half!

      Seriously? Are you really that stupid? 3 divided by 2 is 1.5, which isn't even close to 50. What the hell do they teach kids in school these days?

    4. Re:3 people in 2 don't know math. by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Duh, after I have had seven fifths I have trouble with math as well.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Re:Solution? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    True, but you're one of those people who want to use the metric system and hate America, so I won't listen to what you say.

  3. Re:MPG and GPM are both useful by JesseL · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not like that? It's exactly like that. Your car has made you into an idiot.

    --
    "Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
  4. Forget mpg. by gklinger · · Score: 4, Funny

    My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.