robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Several summer vacations for our family (before pets) our route was LA to Western Kentucky(home town) to St Louis (my Dad and Stepmother) then the northern route to Friday Harbor Washington (Brother-in-laws widow and kids) then back down the coast to LA. Work, I averaged about 1000 miles a week, work, shopping and activities, My wife varied as she changed hospitals (Surgical RN) but about 500-700 a week most years. Our home is considered part of the LA Metro area but we are about 70 miles from downtown LA by car and 50 or so as the crow flies.
Europe, fewer people own cars, most live closer to work, school etc. and for vacations over longer distances most will take a train. They tend to keep their cars a lot longer than in the US so are willing to spend more for the high fuel milage models. And those cars are mostly smaller and slower than most cars in the US up until the last few decades. Yes, I know they also have performance cars but they are even more expensive, haul even fewer people and less stuff and are not nearly as fuel efficient as the regular family cars.
In the US the average family owns 2 cars and 35% own 3 or more. Only 9% of Americans don't have access to even one car and many of those are older, live in a central city or are students or others who live at their school (many military don't own one either, Uncle gives them a vehicle or rides when needed) and don't need a car.

So Europe - 12,000 per car vs 15,000 in the US but that European car is likely to be one car for a family with 2 or even three drivers while the US car is one of 2,3 or more cars for one family. My family has 4 cars and 4 drivers. My SUV*, the wife's Honda Civic she owned before she retired, our oldest son's Honda hybrid he drives when the Army Reserve, Red Cross or a Disaster Response Unit he belongs to haven't sent him to "Faroffastan" and our daughter has her Toyota Corolla with her at the University of Virginia Medical School (before we bought it for her for Medical School she shared with Myself, Mom or her Brother depending on who wasn't using their car at the time). Our younger son is special needs and doesn't nor will he ever drive so Mom and I rack up miles taking him to appointments etc.

* Which I bought in Oct 2019 to replace my 2001 SUV that just plain wore out including driving it 12 years after I retired - it went through two odometers after the factory one.

fldiverman

Thank you for the graph!

fldiverman

.

alexol

Relative to fule efficiency, vehicles per Capita - which is what you are essentially referring too, is irrelevant.

And for that matter, measure by vehicles per Capita, USA is #6, just behind New Zealand at #5, and Iceland is #4!

The argument/conversation has outlived it's usefulness as far as I'm concerned and no minds are going to be either opened or changed, so I'll leave you to it & unfollow.

fldiverman

I live an hour away from the Blue Ridge Mtns. I've driven the Smoky Mtns. That isn't smog, it's clouds and fog. I can smell the difference!

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

That is what I thought but a professor I knew showed us that is actually a very thin almost fresh air version of smog with the low clouds, fog and fumes from the rotting vegetation mixed together. And add in a bit of smoke at times.
The word smog actually means "smoke + fog" and in London when the term was coined it was coal smoke plus fog (soft coal was the most common fuel for heating back then), LA smog is moisture, low clouds along the mountains, then some smoke and a lot of exhaust fumes trapped in the temperature inversion layers in the basin so it smells different and is much much worse on the lungs. The stuff in the Smokey's and Blue Ridge is about 99% fresh air and virtually harm less. Every place in the world they have smog or a local version it is different.

Abo

It's about the same down here.

Fortunately this does 52mp(US)g around town ... and goes
as quick as a 1000 raped apes

(Download)

Abo

Yeah, but the cost of "mining" petroleum product for the last 195 years could/will be astronomical.

Crikey, it's so obvious you cant see that the days of drilling and having fountains of
crude oil went long ago... you're having trouble seeing the forest because the trees
obscure your view

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Maybe.

So glad you know what I can't see. There are new fields discovered and some old fields that were shut down have been checked and they have flow again. More petroleum seeping in from down below etc.

A huge % of the US and Canadian reserves is in oil sands and oil shale and the methods of extraction seem to be getting better all the time.

Abo

I hope you are right Rob

hj Loc: Florida

What's good for the Tesla guys is good for us too. Fossil fuel is better. Even electric cars require gas to generate the electricity.

byjoe Loc: Stillwater, OK

?

hj Loc: Florida

I posted a photo of a Tesla van gassing up. If they build electric cars, why aren't their own vehicles electric?

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

Be happy, here, just north of Montreal, it was about 8.66 $(canadian) about 6,90 $ us, a full tank in my ford pickups would cost me 265$

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

I DO commute 120 miles per day/4 days a week. Through Los Angeles traffic x22 years.

LGBFJBFTWDILIGAF