With the average price of gasoline at $4.25 a gallon, fuel economy has never been more important.
Hat tip to Sonia for finding this fuel economy calculator that allows students to compare the cost of refueling for different vehicles.
Here’s an example scenario:
Enter an MPG rating for both Vehicle A and Vehicle B (note that there is also a Select Vehicle option for students to enjoy more) Personalize fuel prices and driving habits and how long you expect to own the car
After entering all these variables, you will receive this output indicating the cost savings by choosing the car with the higher MPG:
To ask:
Will miles per gallon (mpg) be one of the variables you consider when buying a car? Why or why not? What impact do you think driving in city traffic will have on your fuel economy? Test that hypothesis by increasing city driving by 25% from your original scenario. Have the cost savings increased or decreased as a result? Have you noticed an increase in gas prices in your area in the past 2 weeks? How much have prices gone up? Do you think such spikes in gasoline prices affect the way people make decisions about car purchases?
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Interactives are one of the most popular resources for educators. Here’s a whole lot more from the blog.
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Gas prices play a role in the inflationary era we are in. Our recent classroom podcasts offer a series of podcast segments that help explain this recent phenomenon.
About the author
Tim Ranzetta
Tim’s savings habits started at 7 a.m. when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which lasted nearly a year, led to Tim getting to know the bank clerks quite well (and building a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures include driving a chipper, analyzing compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies, and helping families make better college funding decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to establish a personal finance program and teach at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him. to start a new nonprofit, Next Gen Personal Finance. †
This post Interactive: Compare cars with different MPG ratings and their impact on costs
was original published at “https://www.ngpf.org/blog/interactive/interactive-why-your-cars-mpg-matters/”
