What do you do when you've just purchased a relatively un-fuel efficient vehicle and the price of gas has increased by $0.30 per litre? You swear! And by the number of 2007 and 2008 SUVs on the road, I'm guessing I'm not the only one swearing. So how do you stop filling the oil companies' coffers?
I've really racked my brains over the last few years trying to find ways to save on fuel. I started by changing my driving habits. I didn't have much choice, as my Chrysler 300 with 3.5-litre V6 wasn't cooperating. I managed to save one litre per 100 km, dropping from 13.5 to 12.5 litres per 100 km. Even if it wasn't always possible, I tried to plan my trips better and kill two birds with one stone when I had errands to run.
I still wasn't satisfied with the result, though, so I replaced my sizable Chrysler V6 with a smaller, 4-cylinder Nissan Altima. That made quite an impact: from 12.5 L/100 km, I dropped down to an average of 8.4 L/100 km, a 37% improvement over my Chrysler days. As I travel around 24,000 kilometres a year, at $1.40 per litre of regular gas I plan on consuming $2,822 worth of fuel. If I still had my Chrysler 300, I'd be looking at $4,536 for the same distance. I just saved $1,714 right there. But now, I'm on a four-year lease with my Nissan. As I wanted to take things even further, I started thinking about other solutions.
With the new regulations now allowing the use of low-speed vehicles on certain roads in Quebec since July, I thought about the relevance of buying a Zenn, the little homegrown electric car assembled in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. It would make a useful second vehicle, but I'd have to have an extra $16,000 to spend, and this amount would be harder to recover. As for a used Zenn, I'd have to travel to California to find one. I also checked out the used smart cars for sale. A 2005 model hovered around $12,000. As I wanted to recover my investment very quickly, this wasn't the solution for me. Then, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, my brother showed up at the house with his new toy: a small, 50-cc, Chinese scooter that he'd just bought for $2,300. "Well here's the first half of the solution to my problem," I thought. Why half? Because I wanted to be able to travel on the highway with my vehicle. So I needed a scooter with at least a 125-cc engine. In the end, I opted for a 250-cc ride.
I've really racked my brains over the last few years trying to find ways to save on fuel. I started by changing my driving habits. I didn't have much choice, as my Chrysler 300 with 3.5-litre V6 wasn't cooperating. I managed to save one litre per 100 km, dropping from 13.5 to 12.5 litres per 100 km. Even if it wasn't always possible, I tried to plan my trips better and kill two birds with one stone when I had errands to run.
I still wasn't satisfied with the result, though, so I replaced my sizable Chrysler V6 with a smaller, 4-cylinder Nissan Altima. That made quite an impact: from 12.5 L/100 km, I dropped down to an average of 8.4 L/100 km, a 37% improvement over my Chrysler days. As I travel around 24,000 kilometres a year, at $1.40 per litre of regular gas I plan on consuming $2,822 worth of fuel. If I still had my Chrysler 300, I'd be looking at $4,536 for the same distance. I just saved $1,714 right there. But now, I'm on a four-year lease with my Nissan. As I wanted to take things even further, I started thinking about other solutions.
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| 2008 ZENN |
With the new regulations now allowing the use of low-speed vehicles on certain roads in Quebec since July, I thought about the relevance of buying a Zenn, the little homegrown electric car assembled in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. It would make a useful second vehicle, but I'd have to have an extra $16,000 to spend, and this amount would be harder to recover. As for a used Zenn, I'd have to travel to California to find one. I also checked out the used smart cars for sale. A 2005 model hovered around $12,000. As I wanted to recover my investment very quickly, this wasn't the solution for me. Then, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, my brother showed up at the house with his new toy: a small, 50-cc, Chinese scooter that he'd just bought for $2,300. "Well here's the first half of the solution to my problem," I thought. Why half? Because I wanted to be able to travel on the highway with my vehicle. So I needed a scooter with at least a 125-cc engine. In the end, I opted for a 250-cc ride.
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| 2009 Yamaha TMAX |