\nOne source of fascination, for some drivers (and MOST people in the transport business), is how fuel consumption increases with speed.<\/p>\n
Any cyclist knows that on level ground, their speed tops out very quickly even under optimum conditions. Riding my mountain bike avidly in my early 20s, I noticed that it’s hard to ride 20km\/h for more than an hour – yet 15km\/h can be sustained indefinitely with good conditions. On a racing bike, both speeds would be higher, but the point is the same.<\/p>\n
Driving, your car doesn’t get tired; rather, it just uses more fuel. How much more? Well, the good people at the US Department of Energy<\/a> are offering this rule of thumb:<\/p>\n For every 5mph over 50mph, it’s like you’re paying $0.25 more per gallon of gas.<\/em><\/p>\n Converting to Canadian units, we can translate:<\/p>\n For every 8km\/h over 80km\/h, it’s like you’re paying $0.066 more per litre.<\/em><\/p>\n Since I rarely drive, I don’t know the pump price today; I hear it’s around $1.40 per litre. If you drive 100 km\/h (as opposed to 80km\/h), you’re effectively paying about $0.16 more per litre, or around $1.56.<\/p>\n Then again: time is money:)<\/p>\n