Price O' Gasoline... OpenChoke
We have all seen the calculations showing us how gas prices aren't as high as we think when adjusted for inflation.
Sounds good in theory, but it still hurts to fill up the car, because we don't typically think of things rationally, we respond to pain... In this case paying more than we did a few months ago. I was reading an article about vehicle mileage, and I realized the "sameness" of price is even MORE equivalent today because of MPG standards!
In 2010 dollars, gasoline in 1980 cost around 2.80 per gallon. This year, we have seen it range from around here to 4 or more bucks per gallon. Let's just say 4 bucks a gallon. However, the average mileage of passenger car in 1980 was 16 mpg.
Today, it is 22.6 mpg. In other words, mpg in 1980 was 30 percent less efficient.
When you look at driving from a PER MILE point of view, instead of COST TO FILL UP YOUR TANK POV, the equivalent cost of gasoline today is... $2.80 per gallon in an all in equivalent basis to 1980.
EIA's latest weekly petroleum analysis
