MPG has become a marketing phenomenon in the last few years. Car companies are pushing for higher MPG’s more than ever before. MPG has become a standard decision factor when looking to buy a car. For most people, higher MPG’s are important for the obvious reason – money. The more efficient your car runs, the further it will take you per tank.
Some people buy cars with higher MPGs from an environmental standpoint. They want to help save the environment, reduce pollution, etc. You’ll notice this with Hollywood stars that toot around town in their Prius.
I realized the other day that I need to be driving a car with higher MPG’s. While I certainly would love to get more for my buck in fuel – that is not the driving factor. I absolutely care about the environment – but this is not my primary reason. The ‘driving’ reason behind wanting a more efficient car is to reduce the time I am standing at the gas pump.
Now, this may sound silly to you, so I put together a little comparison to show how much time you will spend standing at a gas pump – and the numbers are astounding.
I currently drive 475 miles per week. My car has a 16 gallon gas tank, and it takes roughly 5 minutes to fill up my tank. Now, assuming that I have to fill up nearly twice per week, I am going to spend over 8 1/2 hours per year standing at the gas pump. Lets assume I’m going to be driving for the next 40 years. In that time I will spend 343 hours standing at the gas pump doing absolutely nothing. Incredible!!
By purchasing a car that gets just 5MPG more I can save myself 86 hours, or 3 1/2 days of my life.
I’ve always heard that ‘time is money’. What people often overlook is the value of their own time. To think – if I drive an electric car like a Tesla that is simply plugged in each night, I can save over 14 days of my life standing at a gas pump doing nothing. Think about that – thats two weeks of my life that I will stand at a gas pump that I could have spent at work or on vacation.
This theory can be applied at a much granular level. The next time you go to do something tedious or time consuming (like cutting the grass, washing the dishses, etc), ask yourself the same question I do – How much is my time worth?
You may find yourself hiring a landscaping company or installing a new dishwasher in the near future.
-Mike