Gas Cost Per Mile

The GCPM Can Help Determine When and Where to Drive

© Carroll Trosclair

Gas Pump, Click Art
Gas cost per mile is easy to calculate and can tell motorists the immediate out-of-pocket costs of their everyday trips regardless of what they drive.

By the middle of 2008, gasoline was costing Americans about 20 cents per mile (GCPM). That average might vary considerably in the next few years, but whatever it is, greater awareness of the GCPM might begin affecting not only how Americans drive, but also what, when and where they drive.

For decades, Americans have paid most attention to two motoring numbers:

However, neither the price per gallon nor the MPG directly reflect everyday out-of-pocket trip costs. And neither mesurement seemed to generate much change in American driving habits until they were hit in 2008 by the shocking increase in gasoline cost. Even with $4 per gallon gasoline, it was not yet clear whether those measurements would bring permanent changes in their less-than-conservative driving habits. A $45 fillup is likely viewed as a weekly necessity covering a multitude of trips, rather than a usable measure of trip-by-trip costs

IRS, AAA Provide Total Cost Per Mile

Both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website and the American Automobile Association (AAA) have provided figures on the total cost of driving a mile (TCPM), but those numbers includes such things as auto maintenance, insurance and depreciation. Since miles traveled have little impact on insurance costs or vehicle depreciation, the TCPM numbers do not get much attention from motorists.

The gasoline cost per mile (GCPM), however, is a hard, immediate out-of-pocket measurement that motorists can directly apply to their everyday driving routines. It can be easily translated to such specifics as the cost of pleasure trips, the wisdom of driving extra miles to shop, and whether they should use public transportation or carpooling to get to and from work. It can even help them determine whether they should drive extra miles to purchase cheaper gasoline.

The AAA website can help motorists make general estimates on both total costs per mile and gasoline costs per mile based on the size (small, medium or large) sedan they drive. Other types of vehicles are not covered. Neither are performance, age and condition differences in various makes and models.

Motorists Can Calculate Own Cost Per Mile

However, motorists can easily calculate the gasoline cost per mile for themselves and come up with a more precise answer for their individual vehicles. The calculation involves two steps:

  1. Divide one (for one mile) by the vehicle’s miles per gallon.
  2. Multiply that percentage by the cost of a gallon of gasoline.

Examples:

Changing the cost per gallon gives these gas prices per mile:

Keeping the price per gallon at $4, but improving the miles per gallon gives these CPMs:

Changing both the miles per gallon and price per gallon gives these CPMs:

References:

  1. AAA website
  2. IRS News Release June 23, 2008

False Savings at the Pump

Telematics in New Cars


The copyright of the article Gas Cost Per Mile in Car Care/Ownership is owned by Carroll Trosclair. Permission to republish Gas Cost Per Mile in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Gas Pump, Click Art
       

Comments
Jul 4, 2008 11:47 AM
Chad Criswell :
This is great to know especially when trying to determine the monetary benefit of using E85 ethanol in a flex fuel vehicle versus using regular gasoline.

For example, in my area of the country gas is $3.89 a gallon and when running on pure gas my cost per gallon figures out to 19 cents per mile.

When I fuel up with E85 Ethanol I lose about 20-25% of my miles per gallon but when E85 costs only $2.99 it still only costs me 15 cents per mile when running E85.
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