Fuel Prices and Total Cost

I frequently get asked how we live with the high European gas prices. Here's some thoughts on that: With the recent rise in crude oil prices, diesel in Italy today is $7.10/gallon. Prices here are adjusted daily very much like in the US. Just like in the US increases are passed on immediately but decreases have to wait for the oil to pass through the pipeline.

We have an automatic Ford Focus with a 136 HP 2.0 liter turbo-diesel that is about the equivalent of a 170 HP gasoline engine. The automatic transmission is actually a computerized robotic double clutch transmission that is totally unlike prior automatics and similar to the VW DSG transmission. This type of Ford Focus body is supposed to be available in the US next year though I don't think the particular engine will be. Being a fairly powerful engine in a relatively small car, it delivers good performance and still averages, city/highway, 42 MPG. A diesel being at its best on long distance highway cruising, I have gotten in excess of 55 MPG on long trips. Ford Focus's have a reputation for having a good ride, handling very well and excellent reliability. The German equivalent of Consumer Reports found that the Focus is the most reliable car sold in Germany. We have had the car almost a year with no problems of any kind and had similar experience with a prior Focus.

Despite taking three long trips this past year, the closeness of everyday things and more walking has limited our annual mileage to 11,000 miles. In the US we drove cars about 18,000 miles per year.

Taking those facts into consideration and assuming a US premium gas price of $3.25/gallon, I did the following calculations:
In the US we drove 18,000 miles per year at 20 MPG and used 900 gallons at $3.25/gallon for a total cost of $2,925/year.
In Italy we drive 11,000 miles per year at 42 MPG and used 262 gallons at $7.10/ gallon for a total cost of $1,860 per year.

I was a surprised when I saw the results as I thought our costs in Italy would be a little, but not much, higher. I decided to plug in the best I experienced in the US and that would be 18,000 miles per year at 21 MPG and $2.75 per gallon, which gives a cost of $2,357. At worst, when we lived in Las Vegas I was getting 18 MPG and paying $3.50+/gallon which would push the annual cost to $3,500.

I am still a bit surprised that we can meet our transportation needs without curbing them in any way and with a car that has good performance, rides well, handles well and is very reliable for less annual fuel cost than in the US despite such high fuel prices. One factor I did not take into account is that a turbo-diesel engine adds about €2,000 to the cost of a car. To be fair, used cars hold their value much better in Italy than in the US and the added cost of the turbo-diesel can be almost fully recovered at the time of sale as they are much more desirable as used cars than gasoline engined cars.

A favorite car here seems to be the BMW 320d, a 2 liter turbo-diesel with 184 hp, equivalent to about 230 hp gasoline and averages 45 mpg. BMW makes a special fuel efficient diesel (BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics) that has 163 hp, equivalent to about 205 hp gasoline, goes 0-60 in about 7.5 seconds and averages 58 mpg. Amazing statistics for a car of its size and questions why engineers should bother with electrics that handle poorly. The high fuel prices here motivate most people to seek out high mileage cars.