Updated
Updated Automatically on September 2nd, 2010
Want a shock? Compare the U.S. average gas mileage today with the mileage of a 1908 Ford Model T!
I recently read that the 1908 Ford Model T got the same gas mileage as some current SUVs, so I decided to check it out.
In August, the CBS television affiliate in the San Francisco area reported on this story. They got information from Ford headquarters that said that the original Model T got 13 miles per gallon in the city and 21 MPG on the highway. Assuming a 50/50 mix of city and highway driving, that would be an average of 17 MPG. It turns out this is the same combined average MPG of a current Ford Explorer (14 city, 20 highway.)
Of course you can’t really compare the Model T and the Explorer — the Explorer is well over a ton heavier than the Model T and it is much more comfortable and safer. But the Explorer is almost becoming the “average” car these days, like the Model T was nearly a century ago. And with the EPA reporting that our national average gas mileage has dropped to 21 MPG this year, you have to wonder if we’re making any real progress when it comes to gas mileage.
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Updated Automatically on September 2nd, 2010
One Response to “Are We Making Any Progress?”
Something to say?
Seriously? You have to question it? Well if you do than you’re an idiot.
How fast did a Model T go? What gas mileage did it get at its top speed (40 mph in case you didn’t know already) - not 20 mpg! Did it have a heater? No. Did it have air conditioning? No. Did it have ABS, cruise control, disk brakes, 4 wheel drive, electronic stability control, windshield wipers, integrated headrests, safety bumpers, crumple zones, air bags…no. All of which are pretty much required by our federal government at this point.
So if you drove an Explorer at a steady 40 mph, with your seatbelts on, your air conditioner blasting, and your radio turned up you’d get much better gas mileage than a Model T.
Idiots like you should be forced to drive Model T’s so that we know who you are.
Left by Marty Givens on March 29th, 2009