27 Votes

How Europe lives with $10 a Gallon Gas

5MTenthus submitted on 7/22/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 6:52:09 PM

27 user comments | Category: New Cars | Source: | SOURCE: blogs.motortrend.com

A couple of weeks ago in France I paid $9.

97 for a gallon of gas. Yesterday, in London, I spent $10.14 for a gallon of diesel. Filling the tank of the Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI I'm driving at the moment cost me more than $156. Good thing it's a diesel, and a full tank will take me at least 500 miles around town, and more than 600 miles on the freeway.

After more than a month in Europe, living with stratospheric gas prices, my automotive brain has been recalibrated: Suddenly, small is beautiful and frugal is fabulous. And I've discovered you don't need 500 hp, a rumbling V-8, or extravagant sheetmetal to make an impression. Small cars don't have to be boring.

We Americans already get the Mini Cooper (though not the 57.4-mpg, 108-hp diesel-powered Cooper D), the BMW 1 Series (but only with six-cylinder gas engines instead of the fours and diesels Europeans are offered) and the Smart. Ford is bringing us the Fiesta, GM the Chevy Cruze (replacing the Cobalt), and Chrysler is working on a joint venture car with Nissan. But we're missing out on some stylish, quirky, and interesting rides that go a long way on little gas.

Read Article

About the Author

— 5MTenthus (View Profile)

User Comments

sadly IF these cars were made to meet US standard

they would end up getting like 25-35 mpg

— eric452 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 7:34:26 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4

sadly IF these cars were made to meet US standard
they would end up getting like 25-35 mpg.........

Not sure what you are talking about? Are the Mini and Smart cars that meet US Standard that different, apart from the choice of engines offered here?

— steve27t (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 10:21:07 PM | | Votes: 0

ok so
we dont get the diesel engines availble in minis and smarts

and extra airbags make the cars heavier and less mpg
but it saves lives.
— eric452 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 10:49:41 PM | | Votes: 2

You have the A3 here in the US as well. It fits today's market perfectly. And no compromise in luxury. We just need the S3 and A1 as well.
— VISO (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 11:07:30 PM | | Votes: 2

most of those cars have the standard amount of airbags, plus a few airbags won't kill more than 1 mpg. The mpg difference comes between how the cars are tested for fuel economy.

the cars in the article would get 35mpg+ on the epa combined rating
— chewy (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 2:27:26 AM | | Votes: 1

eric452

While it is true that American standards are lower than most, and if European cars were built in the USA they would be worse, you must also consider that because of their size and weight they would not be THAT bad.

Some things inherently will save even bad design, and size and weight is one of them! The USA could make small cars and it would be an improvement for you guys.
— MadibaP (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 6:16:01 AM | | Votes: 1

These cars are in addition to the more common ones there: the VW Golf, Polo, and Lupo, Smart four-two, and Ford Focus and Fiesta.
And for some reason, the 3 above that are sold in the US are only in gas form, and not the economical diesels.
In Canada, the Smart was only sold as a diesel, and the last Jetta wagon was also only TDI (gas engines were not even an option) ... showing that the Canadian market (with our higher fuel prices) is mid-way between Europe and America.
— DieselRules (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 7:56:03 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3

Only problem is that I don't and never will live in Europe. I like my cars fast and comfortable. Not tiny and slow.
T
— TauronB2G (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 8:15:30 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

@ Tauron,

I know what you mean but luckily, not all of the newer diesels are tiny and slow. The MB E320 Bluetec and VW Jetta Clean Diesel TDI are obviously two examples and I hope we get more soon, even if it's from GM, Ford, or Chrysler.
— Bored (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 10:04:20 PM | | Votes: 1

Nice fallacy. The comfortable and fast cars also exist in Europe. You think the E63 or M5 is a US only car? Hardly. The just has a much broader range of choices then we will ever have the luxury of having.

I remember when I was in Germany the C and E classes had at least 8 different engine choices (gas and diesel). Car companies either thing American's can't or won't handle that many choices.
— jeffy210 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 10:06:51 PM | | Votes: 2

We do have many more engine choices here. In the C class for example...
C180k
C200k
C230
C280
C350
C63
C200cdi
C220cdi
C320cdi
9 engine choices on a rather ordinary car. It's expected that there are at least 3 engine choices on most cars, mix of petrol and diesel.
— Rupert (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 6:45:21 AM | | Votes: 1

I drove the new jetta TDI and I was ompressed by the power it delivered and began pulling very hard at just 1,800 RPM. the DSG was great too. the torque at 1800rpm is what impressed me the most as well as the fuel economy and the huge trunk. Of only it were rear wheel drive.
— 85bmw745i (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 12:37:30 PM | | Votes: 1

$10 a gallon isn't a big deal because it's not $10 a gallon, it's like 1,60 euro a liter. It's only expensive because you are paying in USD. If you earn euros, gas is the same as it is here. It's relative pricing.

Next you are going to say that your Mercedes was $20,000 more in Europe.
— wedouglas (View Profile)

Posted on 7/22/2008 10:57:51 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3

that's still about 6.25 euros. so pretend gas is 6.25 in the US and this is if the average European earned a euro when an average American earns a dollar. I don't think that most European countries have per capita earning (in dollars) that's 60% above Americans.

that's what Europeans get with their tax structure on fuel. that's why they (average European) drive the cars tha they drive
— chewy (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 2:10:22 AM | | Votes: 1

This is realy a mentality difference, like Chewy said even converting one on one (1USD=1€), the cars are still more expensive in Europe than in US, the Fuel is more expensive in Europe than US and this should be in the X-files since the currency used in many countries to buy Petrol is the USD and the Euro at the time is much stronger than the USD, but the idea in the US is that the bigger the better and you're loosing some great cars because of that, do you think that a normal european person would want a huge V8 just to travel to work or car pooling and most of the times being stuck in the traffic 1 hour or more, that is a nonsense, do you think that you need a huge SUV or a full size size sedan just to travel inside town making it a headache to find a spot to park such a big car? And then we have the reason of this topic, do you think that we need a car to travel alone to work with a fuel comsumption of 20mpg while we can have one that can achieve 50mpg? Are our cars really more insecure? They do have at least 6 to 8 airbags, for me it is more than enough!! Are our cars slower? Our speed limits are higher and the police is less present so it is kind of safe to say that our average speeds are a bit higher than in US, in fact some of users of this forum that are always whining about the top speed of this or that car don't even know what is the feeling of reaching more than 150 mph!!! Are Europeans right or it's the Americans that are right, no one is right, we just follow what we've been taught!!!
— Ventura (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 4:32:29 AM | | Votes: 3

Not to mention that much of their health and welfare comes from the rounded off price
— toolatetorace (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 11:14:28 PM | | Votes: 1

Having lived in London UK and Portofino Italy and now California i dont think most americans are willing to accept small cars even if they have better MPG and better crash standards than there big SUV.Americans seem to be visually driven and to them a monster SUV with a dinosaur supension system and drum brakes seems safer than a high tech smaller vehicle.Plus i dont think there 400 ilbs of fat would fit into most euro cars.
— PrancingHorse (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 5:42:18 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0

Maybe you are not aware that the demand for small cars in US exceeds the supply right now. I'm talking about cars like Smart, Mini, Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. Yes, at this time the American car buyer pays MSRP or more for the cars I mentioned.
— Star (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 3:18:16 PM | | Votes: 1

"Problem in America is that buyers want their cars to be both fast and very fuel efficient nowadays."

Yes. Could MichaelTaylor actually be on his way to saying something intelligent today?

"So technically a hybrid would be a better choice as you are offered the best of both worlds but with less pollution compared to diesels."

Damn. No. For a second you actually made sense, then you had to throw that in there. Diesels are more fuel efficient than gas-electric hybrids. They also offer better performance, and as for emmissions, BMW with all it's diesels is the lowest polluting luxury brand in Europe (and that includes Lexus and their hybrids, who's in fourth I believe behind Audi and Mercedes).

You want the best of both worlds? That's a diesel hybrid. Or an all-electric car. In the absence of those, a diesel frankly kicks the crap out of a hybrid.
— JRobUSC (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 9:08:36 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

I drive a BMW 316i 2004, if i drive perfectly no hard braking most freeways, take it easy i can get it to drive 15,2 km. pr liter not sure what that is in gallons and miles, but BMW claims 14,2 km pr liter, that is also inclouding city driving.At the moment we pay $2,27 pr. liter.
My dream would be the 330 or 335 coupe, but cars are expensive here. I paid $75.000 for it in 2004, using todays 1 USD = 4,67 DKR.
— MPowerDK (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 8:00:12 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

There are fundamental differences between the European and American lifestyles. These mostly have to do with space considerations over the course of history.

Europeans can go on and on about how fat and wasteful Americans are, and it's true. We are on average, fatter and more wasteful than our european counterparts. But that doesn't mean those same europeans wouldn't be fatter and more wasteful if it wasn't so expensive where they live. I've spent a lot of time in europe and have done a lot of comparisons between life here (USA) and there. I think that europeans drive smaller cars, and get more exercise and use less energy simply because they have to.

The main island of Great Britain for example, is approximately the size of the state of Wisconsin but has a population of nearly 60 million people. Most of these people have small houses, drive small cars (if any) and utilize public transportion extensively. This is because it's impractical to live any differently. But that doesn't mean a majority of those people wouldn't live in larger houses, walk less and drive bigger cars if it was practical to do so (as it has been in America in the past.)

Compare the average lifestyle in NYC, for example, to that of a Londoner. They're very similar and simply illustrate this concept. Lots of walking, small living area, public transportation use etc...

Europeans spout their superiority of lifestyle efficiency, but they're simply citing the inevitable side-effects of overpopulation over a longer period of time. It seems that America is at a cross-roads now. Energy is much more expensive per capita than it has been in the past. We've already seen some pretty drastic changes in the way we live.

People are driving less, the meager public transportation systems of most cities are overloaded to the breaking point. People are moving from far out in the suburbs to the city and living in smaller houses and the list goes on. Just because this happened in Europe 200 years ago (in time for most european nations to build extensive supporting infrastructure) doesn't mean it won't happen here as well. It just took longer for it to be a necessity.
— ryskt (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 10:48:12 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2

Rubbish. I lived there for half my life. Europeans spout their superior lifestyle because they have one.

They can easily choose to live out in the suburbs like people here. The difference is they are STILL usually closer to a large city. England is very similar in size to California. It has one of the best transportation systems in the world IF YOU CHOOSE to use it.

The social structure of Europe is different too. It's far more oriented towards interaction between others...not avoidance as is the case here...even in New York. Life in Paris far different than life in New York...even though your theory would dictate otherwise.

Europeans choose the lifestyles they have...social, together, coherent, lively. We can choose that too...but we don't because we'd rather put a McMansion 60 miles away ahead on our priority list than living life with friends, mates, and having a good time with people in general.
— nozferatu (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 4:08:25 AM | | Votes: 2

So, you're saying that hundreds of years of dense population and limited space is behind none of the lifestyle choices most european citizens make? It's just as cheap and convenient to live out in the country instead of a larger city?

And is it possible that the fact there are more large cities per sq km is because of this greater population density and the amount of time people have had to fill up the space? Of course everybody in the country still lives nearer to a large city there is less space between cities.

Compared to Europe, the North American continent is vast and there are considerably fewer people living on it... so far. Perhaps 500 years of crowding has changed the inherent thinking of Europeans while more space has had the opposite affect on Americans.
— ryskt (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 8:56:51 AM | | Votes: 1

It's about the same in Taiwan. Of course the economic status and lifestyle of the country dictate how people will react and respond to gas prices.
— mattman953 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 9:01:24 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

JRRob,
75% of BMW Brand sales in the UK are Minis, 1s and 3s. The 3 is considered a large family car. What a joke. Why doesn't BMW just include their motorcycles in the calculations.

Rupert,
What's the difference between a C180K anc a C200K besides around $500 and 15 horsepower? It akin to paying $10,000 for a blue and white propellor to stick on your hohum crap car's plastic seats.
— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/23/2008 9:50:05 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

Consider the cost of the military, war, etc and fuel in the US costs MUCH more tan $10 a gallon. 40 freaking percent of EVERY SINGLE FREAKING TAX DOLLAR I make is going to funding this fking war....add that to my fuel bill.
— nozferatu (View Profile)

Posted on 7/24/2008 4:02:23 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1

Add your Comments

Images hosted in your AgentSpace can now be posted in the comments section using the following syntax (case matters): [img]IMAGE URL[/img]
Example: [img]http://agent001.myautospies.com/images/sample.jpg[/img]

Email Me When Someone Replies To My Message

How Europe lives with $10 a Gallon Gas

About the Author

User Comments

Add your Comments

Submit an article

Photo Galleries

Cars

Autoshows

Latest Articles