Here is the result of this exercise:
A car that does 4 L/100 km will cost $8,000 of gasoline (19,200 kg of CO2)
A car that does 6 L/100 km will cost $12,000 of gasoline (28,800 kg of CO2)
A car that does 8 L/100 km will cost $16,000 of gasoline (38,400 kg of CO2)
A car that does 10 L/100 km will cost $20,000 of gasoline (48,000 kg of CO2)
A car that does 12 L/100 km will cost $24,000 of gasoline (57,600 kg of CO2)
A car that does 14 L/100 km will cost $28,000 of gasoline (67,200 kg of CO2)
A car that does 16 L/100 km will cost $32,000 of gasoline (76,800 kg of CO2)
A car that does 18 L/100 km will cost $36,000 of gasoline (86,400 kg of CO2)
A car that does 20 L/100 km will cost $40,000 of gasoline (96,000 kg of CO2)
And, finally
Our ghost vehicle that did 30 L/100 km will cost $60,000 of gasoline (144,000 kg of CO2)
Just to remind you, all this is over 200,000 km. If vehicles that consume 4 L/100 km are very rare, it is possible to see the expense that a vehicle represents over another. So, I advised a friend to change his small SUV that consumed 11 L/100 km for a vehicle that consumed only 5. By doing that, he will save $12,000 in gas. That's an amount that is far from negligible.
But what if you can afford it?
Many people can answer that they can afford to pay that extra gasoline, because they want to drive a powerful vehicle, they privilege a sporty aspect or anyways, premium vehicles that consume little fuel virtually don't exist. If economical luxury vehicles only exist in small quantities (like if being wealthy liberates us from our responsibility towards global warming?), the fact is that we all live on the same planet... and it's not called Hollywood.
This is where we talk about the collective aspect of automobile driving.
A collective responsibility
Although we please ourselves to think that the automobile with a capital A is a right, an individual transportation device and that any restriction would constitute a menace to our liberty, we must now remind ourselves that our liberty ends where someone else's starts. I know that all this may sound more philosophical than concrete. However, this premise is found in many laws in which we abide. For example, we have speed limits, alcohol consumption limits before taking the wheel, as well as limits to respect concerning driving that's judged as hazardous, in direct link with the fact that other people than ourselves could face the ill-fated consequences of certain of our actions.
In the same vein, the ecological responsibility of our possession, maintenance and driving of a vehicle, has its place with the actual rules that we already respect and which protect us.
It's not about affirming that everyone should be driving a subcompact, everyone's needs are different, but that criteria must be taken into consideration.
(P.S.: In your opinion, what vehicle is the ghost driver driving?)
A car that does 4 L/100 km will cost $8,000 of gasoline (19,200 kg of CO2)
A car that does 6 L/100 km will cost $12,000 of gasoline (28,800 kg of CO2)
A car that does 8 L/100 km will cost $16,000 of gasoline (38,400 kg of CO2)
A car that does 10 L/100 km will cost $20,000 of gasoline (48,000 kg of CO2)
A car that does 12 L/100 km will cost $24,000 of gasoline (57,600 kg of CO2)
A car that does 14 L/100 km will cost $28,000 of gasoline (67,200 kg of CO2)
A car that does 16 L/100 km will cost $32,000 of gasoline (76,800 kg of CO2)
A car that does 18 L/100 km will cost $36,000 of gasoline (86,400 kg of CO2)
A car that does 20 L/100 km will cost $40,000 of gasoline (96,000 kg of CO2)
And, finally
Our ghost vehicle that did 30 L/100 km will cost $60,000 of gasoline (144,000 kg of CO2)
Just to remind you, all this is over 200,000 km. If vehicles that consume 4 L/100 km are very rare, it is possible to see the expense that a vehicle represents over another. So, I advised a friend to change his small SUV that consumed 11 L/100 km for a vehicle that consumed only 5. By doing that, he will save $12,000 in gas. That's an amount that is far from negligible.
But what if you can afford it?
Many people can answer that they can afford to pay that extra gasoline, because they want to drive a powerful vehicle, they privilege a sporty aspect or anyways, premium vehicles that consume little fuel virtually don't exist. If economical luxury vehicles only exist in small quantities (like if being wealthy liberates us from our responsibility towards global warming?), the fact is that we all live on the same planet... and it's not called Hollywood.
This is where we talk about the collective aspect of automobile driving.
A collective responsibility
Although we please ourselves to think that the automobile with a capital A is a right, an individual transportation device and that any restriction would constitute a menace to our liberty, we must now remind ourselves that our liberty ends where someone else's starts. I know that all this may sound more philosophical than concrete. However, this premise is found in many laws in which we abide. For example, we have speed limits, alcohol consumption limits before taking the wheel, as well as limits to respect concerning driving that's judged as hazardous, in direct link with the fact that other people than ourselves could face the ill-fated consequences of certain of our actions.
In the same vein, the ecological responsibility of our possession, maintenance and driving of a vehicle, has its place with the actual rules that we already respect and which protect us.
It's not about affirming that everyone should be driving a subcompact, everyone's needs are different, but that criteria must be taken into consideration.
(P.S.: In your opinion, what vehicle is the ghost driver driving?)