Travis Pettijohn: Blog

I was watching Car of the Future on PBS (in HD, of course) and this struck me. Internal combustion engines run at an average efficiency of about 20% (compared to theoretical Carnot limits). Add to that the fact that we get into a 2,000 pound machine to move a 150lb human. Let's make the math easier and say we weigh 200lbs. If it takes 1 gallon of gas to move just a 200lb human at 100% efficiency x meters, it takes (2000/200)*(100/20) = 50 gallons to move 2,000lbs at 20% efficiency the same distance.

50X more resources than needed.

Meanwhile, a minister led a pray-in at a Chevron in San Francisco asking God for lower gas prices. We shouldn't be campaigning (or praying) for lower gas prices—we should be demanding better fuel economy and smarter means of transportation.

...and ditch your car. Thanks in large part to the liquid gold, the cost to own and operate a 2008 model car will run from $5,510 to $9,095 a year the next five years at 10,000 miles of driving per. That's up from $5,050 to $8,150 for a 2007 model or about $500 to $1,100 depending on vehicle size.

I turned in my leased car on Monday (after a scare where I thought it was stolen but really the city towed it and lost the record of it having been towed, but the cops suggested additional places to look after filing the police report...long story). In it, I kept a log of every tank of gas. Anal retentive, I know. I got it from my Grandpa Coe; on cross country car trip vacations, he would keep a log and compute his mileage—using a slide rule, I should add. For whatever reason, I decided to keep a log with my first new car. Anyway, 4 years, 101 tanks and 27,547 miles later, I am no longer a car owner. I decided to type the odometer readings and fuel volumes into Excel and run some statistics.

• 2003 Honda Civic LX Coupe with a 5-speed manual transmission.
• Year 1: 11,873 miles, 38 tanks of gas, 355.62 gallons, 32.30 mpg average.
• Year 2: 9,364 miles, 37 tanks of gas, 291.30 gallons, 31.62 mpg average.
• Year 3: 2,766 miles, 13 tanks of gas, 95.46 gallons, 30.30 mpg average.
• Year 4: 3,544 miles, 13 tanks of gas, 113.24 gallons, 32.82 mpg average.
• Overall mileage: 31.90 mpg average, 41.20 max, 23.79 min, 4.02 standard deviation.
• Total fuel consumption: 855.62 gallons (which weighs 5,016 lbs).
• Longest distance on one tank: 387.00 miles on 10.55 gallons for 36.68 mpg.
• Graph of miles driven year over year.
• Graph of mileage of every tank of gas.

I wonder what my Grandpa would say. I bet he'd smile, chuckle and be pretty darn impressed with what Excel could do.

On July 3rd, I filled up my car's gas tank with 10-point-something gallons. That was the first time since April 28th that I filled up...66 days later. Hence the reason I am getting rid of my car next month. Also, it's the reason that I'm okay with high gas prices. High gas prices means the market will finally demand more fuel efficient automobiles, which will in turn be good for the environment and national security. My apologies to my gas guzzling suburban friends :)

Friday afternoon I left Chicago right after work to head out to Kingston for a get together with family. I was going to spend the night, so I had dropped a bag off at my car that morning so that I could make a quick getaway right after work.

I got to my car and really wanted to brush my teeth, so I fished out my toiletries bag and dug out my toothbrush and toothpaste. The toothpaste was frozen--I couldn't squeeze any of it out. So I capped it back up and packed up the bag. It was then that I noticed a patch of blood on the side of my right index finger. I hadn't felt a thing; my fingers were numb from the minute or two with my gloves off while I wrestled the toothpaste. When I reached into my bag, my razor lopped off a large chunk of skin. The wound was shallow, but it was a wide patch. The blood was a trickle, so I put the knuckle in my mouth and sucked the blood away. Once my finger warmed up, however, the blood started to really flow. It was challenging to keep the blood under control when I had to take the finger out of my mouth to shift the manual transmission of my car. I dug around looking for napkins or something to close up the wound. All I had was a clean sock that I had packed for the next morning.

And that is how I came to show up at my Aunt & Uncle's house with a bloody sock wrapped around my finger, asking if they had any bandages I could borrow. Three days later, the wound is still oozing; I wonder if it will scab up, and if it will leave a scar.

I drive it once a week and it costs me this much:

Note that "car" includes subcategories not shown: payments, gas, insurance, repair, etc.

Dangit, I got on the wrong train this morning. I was reading the paper when a Purple line pulled in. Not paying attention and just assuming it was Brown, I got on. And then when we were crossing the river into the Loop, the voice told me that Clark and Lake was next. My first thought was, that's funny, the voice is wrong. Wierd. Oops.

I welcome high gas prices. In fact, I hope gas prices keep rising. High gas prices will impact consumers enough to demand fuel efficient automobiles and the advent of alternative fuel sources. This is good for the earth and consumers in the long run.

This is evidenced by the advertising that's been making the rounds lately. Just the other day I saw an ad for the Toyota Yaris, touting its 40 MPG rating. Look at the number of hybrid cars on the market. The tide is turning, my friends, and high gas prices are the reason why. (Let's be honest. Most people won't buy a hybrid solely because it's good for the earth. They need a little pocketbook motivation, so to speak.)

I don't feel the hurt of high gas prices, as I'm an urban dweller in Chicago. I take public transportation as often as possible. I have about a third of a tank in my car right now and I haven't filled up in about two months. My transportations costs are relatively fixed and are independent of gas price swings.

Let 'em rise, folks. In the long run, it will be for the best.