Miles Per Dollar: The Metric You Need To Measure Vehicle Efficiency 

If you’re ever faced with the option of determining how much fuel your car uses, then you immediately turn to the mileage metric and calculate the vehicle’s “miles per gallon.” However, if you’re looking to build an accurate budget for your car expenses, then the miles per gallon might not necessarily be the perfect metric for you to use. 

Instead, you might want to look into the “miles per dollar” metric instead – since we all care more about how much the car costs to run. How can you utilize this metric? The following guidelines might prove beneficial.

Comparing Traditional Cars

If you’re looking to get a traditional vehicle, then calculating its miles per dollar can also help you to consider your budget. 

Take this analogy, for instance, this summer, gasoline was $5.09 per gallon. This implied that a vehicle achieving 22 miles per gallon could provide 4.3 miles per dollar. However, a car that got 30 miles per gallon could give you 5.9 miles per dollar. 

Knowing your car’s mileage and the current gas prices allows you to determine your car’s miles per dollar using a straightforward formula: (miles per gallon) divided by (gas price per gallon). To help remember the order, use the mnemonic “miles per dollar,” reminding you to evaluate the number of miles and divide it by the number of dollars.

How MPD Helps With Budgeting 

You can also find miles per dollar to be helpful with considering the cost of driving somewhere. For instance, if you’d like to visit a gym that’s just 9 miles away in a car that costs 5.9 miles per dollar, it’ll cost you about $3.05 whenever you go to the gym. If you go three times a week, then that’s a cost of $9.15. 

Both of these – and more – should show you the importance of this metric.