New car window stickers will soon provide shoppers with more fuel economy data, empowering smarter decisions. The labels still list city, highway, and combined fuel economy and annual fuel costs, as well as air-quality ratings. But now the labels also include comparative information. Below the overall, city, and highway numbers is a small number labeled “gallons per 100 miles.” The inverse of fuel economy, gallons per 100 miles provides a better comparison between large and small vehicles. That’s because a one-mpg difference for a gas guzzler is much more significant than a one-mpg difference among more efficient vehicles.
In a box below the gallons per 100 miles figure (3.8 in our example) is the annual cost of fuel for the vehicle: $2,300. That cost is calculated by on multiplying the gallons per 100 miles by 15,000 miles a year of driving and $4 per gallon of gas for regular. When applicable, a higher cost per gallon is used for premium, diesel, and some other fuels. Another prominently displayed dollar figure ($3,500 in the example) shows how much you can save, or how much extra you’ll have to spend, to fuel the vehicle in question for five years compared with the average car. Again, this highlights the larger expenditures for big vehicles compared with savings for smaller ones. At the lower right is a box that shows a comparison of vehicle emissions. Two lines show where the vehicle falls, on a 1 to 10 scale, compared with all other cars and light trucks. In both cases, higher numbers are better. One line shows grams of carbon dioxide per mile. It is calculated directly from fuel economy, and put on a rating scale. The smog ratings is a longtime EPA measurement of pollution based on specific thresholds for nitrogen oxide, non-methane organic gas, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and formaldehyde. Electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions.
For electric cars, the sticker is more complicated. The largest number in the top box shows a miles per gallon equivalent, calculated from a measurement of how many kilowatt hours a vehicle consumes over 100 miles (also shown below the mpg equivalent), divided by 100 miles, and multiplied by the government’s conversion factor of 33.7 kilowatt hours per gallon. Energy costs are calculated at the national average of 12 cents per kwh, although rates can vary dramatically. A bar below the average mpg equivalent shows the mile range between charges and the longest charge time. Other stickers with similar formats will allow you to compare the emissions, energy consumption, and running costs among plug-in hybrids, flex-fuel cars, natural gas-powered cars, and others. A QR code on the lower right corner of each sticker enables smartphones with a scanner app to link to a government website for more information. The site will provide customized estimates based on your own parameters, as well as advise on what type of car and what type of fuel might work best for your driving needs. Expect to see the new stickers on all new cars starting with the 2013 model year.
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To resume travel, simply put the car into First Gear again as in #3 and repeat the process.
