Gas Isn’t Expensive

It’s Your Car That’s Expensive

Well, we’ve made it folks! As of May 2022, we surpassed the $2 per litre barrier. I’ve seen it reach as high as $2.17 where I live. And it’s about time! I’m surprised we haven’t gotten here sooner even with the large contribution from the geopolitical crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine. All this whining and complaining about how much it takes to fill up your tank… Stop it! Just stop it!

Because you know what? Gas isn’t expensive. It’s your car that’s expensive…

There’s a never ending complaint that goes something like this:

Person A: “It cost me $5 more dollars to fill up my tank!… Gas is so expensive this week!”

Person B: “Well it cost me $10 dollars more!”

Person A: “We should go fill up at the cheap station so we’ll save $0.03 cents per litre!”

Person B: “It’s the governments fault! Carbon taxes… etc…etc…”

… … …

That whole situation pisses me off. Do you want to know why? Because telling me about how much it costs to fill up your vehicle means ABSOLUTELY nothing. It literally has no applicable meaning. So what? It costs you $60 instead of $50 to fill up. The main problem with this complaint is that it provides no context, because the cost of anyone’s tank fill up has no valuable metric to it.

You’re focusing entirely on the wrong statistic. It doesn’t matter how much your car costs to fill up. What matters most importantly is how fuel efficient your car is. Most people probably don’t even know what their own car’s fuel mileage. How many litres/100km do you get on average? Or miles/gallon? Do you know? Well, you should!

Maybe it costs you $80 to fill up, and costs me $80 as well. But maybe I have a car that’s twice as fuel efficient to drive, therefore you need to fill up twice for every time that I have to. Or maybe we fill up for the same cost, but I drive half the amount of kilometres every month that you do. See what I mean? Without applicable context to compare with, you and I complaining about gas prices means nothing without the details.

Entitled Much?

The other thing that these gas complaints are rife with is entitlement. Do you feel you are entitled to cheap gas? Because I can tell you that you absolutely aren’t! Not any more than you are entitled to free car repairs or maintenance fees, car payments, insurance, or license renewals.

Why don’t we complain about those things? Surprise surprise, those are all part of vehicle ownership costs too. And just like gas, those things aren’t getting cheaper. The thing about owning a vehicle is that expenses like fuel, maintenance and repair expenses are generally out of your control, no matter how much complaining you might do.

You Are Displeased… Oh What To Do?

What is in your control is that if you really don’t like the price of gas, go ride a bike. Or walk. Or move closer to work to decrease your commute. Or take public transit. Or perhaps buy a different vehicle that’s either A) much cheaper (so, well-used), or B) a much more fuel efficient vehicle, C) Drive Less, or D) ideally all three! You want to drive a fossil fuel car? You’re gonna have to pay fossil fuel prices. That’s just how it is.

Really, gas is only as expensive as your driving habits and of your vehicle itself. That’s where the expense really comes in. It’s your car that’s expensive, not gas.

But let’s focus back on how much gas your vehicle burns. Here are a bunch of comparables of various vehicle types and brands out there, measured by their fuel efficiency* and related costs per X number of kilometers.

While each category tends to have its “clunkers”, depending on specific model, year, and features, etc, the general trend is that the smaller the vehicle is, the more fuel efficient it is.

Bicycles > Electric > Subcompacts > Compacts > Full Size Sedans > SUVs > Mini Vans > Trucks > 4×4 drive.

Size Doesn’t Matter

Tank size doesn’t matter. And cost to fill a tank doesn’t matter. And neither does the change in the cost to fill a tank matter. What matters is the mileage efficiency of the vehicle. That’s what we should be comparing. Canada uses the L/100km. The average Canadian driver drives ~15,000 km/year, so take the cost of L/1000km column and multiply that by 15 to get the average annual fuel costs for a vehicle.

One of the worst performers on the list is the Chevy Silverado 1500 – a fairly common truck – clocking in at ~$4152/yr, where as a Honda Fit comes in at ~$1959/yr; less than half the cost.

And please don’t complain about gas prices if you’re driving a brand new, fully financed and fully loaded vehicle, because that’s sure as soot where the majority of your costs are coming from, not from fuel prices. A $40,000 vehicle (plus finance interest and fees) regardless of how much fuel it uses, costs way more than a nice, used $10,000 one. Especially don’t be complaining if you’re driving a heavy, all-wheel-drive SUV or fuel-eating truck! You should be buying a fuel efficient 7+ year old vehicle. Then maybe, MAYBE, you can complain, just a tiny bit about gas.

Do you still think gas is expensive??

Things Pricier Than Gas

Gas is still a lot cheaper than many other things:

500ml Pop: $2-4/litre

Craft Beer: $5-6/litre

Orange Juice: $3-ish/litre

Wine: Easily $10+/litre

Liquor: Easily $20+/litre

In All Seriousness…

One of the hopefully positive side effects of these “high” gas prices is that they may cause more people to think more about their decisions when purchasing vehicles. Whether it becomes a voluntary or a forced change, I think more and more individuals will gravitate toward hybrid or fully electric cars and trucks.

Also, all political parties will be under more and more pressure by society at large to invest in a faster shift toward electric vehicles and renewable energy systems, such as this recently announced 1.5 billion dollar EV materials plant in Loyalist Township.

So next time your out complaining to someone about the price of gas, try and remember that that’s silly. It’s not gas that’s expensive, it’s your car that’s expensive.









*Fuel Economy stats has been sourced from a variety of sites such as edmunds.com, caranddriver.com, and fueleconomy.gov. Most are fairly close to each other with slight variations. The mileage is also averaged between highway and city driving.

*I can make some allowances for individuals who require a truck for business purposes (ie: contractor), but not for the average person, which is most likely you, because that’s how averages work.