You Volunteered to Pay More for Gas

Crappy news organizations like to report about “record high gas prices” in the U.S. without bothering to adjust for inflation. Better news organizations, like NPR, actually adjust for inflation. The difference is noticeable.

(Data from Energy Information Administration and Bureau of Labor Statistics)

But, as you can see, the “EVERYONE PANIC” news people haven’t really been that far off the mark. Even when adjusted for inflation, prices have managed to reach new heights of late.

But why do we buy gas? We buy it to haul our ever-expanding butts around. So, I wondered if the increase in efficiency of cars doesn’t offset some of that price increase.

In the U.S., congress mandated increases in the fuel economy of cars starting back in the late ’70s. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy act set minimum fuel efficiencies for automobile producers. And it was successful. The CAFE mileage for new cars went from 18.8 mpg in 1977 to 28.0 mpg in 1990 (table).

But they’ve stalled since then. In 2004, the CAFE for new cars was only 29.1 mpg. In the ’80s the CAFE mileage went up by 17%. Since then, it’s only gone up 2.5%

Perhaps the technology has just plateaued. There is, presumably, a maximum efficiency that can be achieved. Gasoline only has so much energy in it. Once you use it all, you will never get better efficiency.

But, coincidentally enough, the mandated CAFE minimum just happened to plateau around the same time as the increase in actual CAFE numbers. Since 1990, the standard has been 27.5 mpg. And every year the real numbers have hovered just above that.

And here’s another interesting thing. The table of CAFE numbers available online also lists the average engine horsepower for new passenger vehicles.

And here’s a graph of the CAFE minimums, the actual numbers, and the average engine horsepower.

Now, if the fuel efficiency increase tapered off because of the limits of technology, why hasn’t the horsepower also tapered off? Looking at the graph, you can see that in the early ’80s, automakers lowered horsepower in order to increase efficiency. But it’s been on a steady rise ever since then, even though efficiency has dropped off–as soon as it was allowed to by law.

Is this a conspiracy by the automakers? Perhaps they are in cahoots with the oil companies?!

Or could it just be that horsepower sells? Americans want more and more powerful cars, and therefore they ignore mileage specifications and instead focus on horsepower numbers. There’s no conspiracy. Car companies make more of the cars that people buy.

As Veruca said on Violent Acres:

“I’m sick and tired of people treating life like it’s something that just happens to them. Everyone is oh so helpless and no one has any control over their situation. They act as if they’re trapped or incapable of changing their situation.”

People want to believe that the price of gas, that the cost of hauling their butt around is completely out of their control. That outside forces conspire against them to make them pay more and more for travel costs.

Sorry, but no. Your travel costs keep going up and up because of the choices you make.

When the price of gas goes up, I don’t complain. I laugh. I love filling up my little ‘Rolla while watching fools dumping their life savings into the tank of their 300-hp rolling status symbol. You idiots–you volunteered for this!