It’s no shocker that we’re addicted to oil in the States, but rarely do we ever see the difference between America and European usage and cost of ownership.
In the States, we don’t have much in terms of public transportation, and despite loads of plans (mostly concepts) and proposed rail networks in the US, it’s very unlikely to happen any time soon.
I’m from the US but have been traveling Europe for over one year. Want to know how many times I’ve driven a car out of necessity (not for a car review or piece for Automoblog)? Twice. I’m serious. Try doing that in the US and you’ll sticking around home for most of your life unless you’re in a pillar city like New York, LA, Chicago, etc.
Given, the US of A is an enormous country and our infrastructure was simply built around traveling by car. I’m not criticizing; I love driving and the freedom it entails. But seeing, in comparison, how much less expensive it is for us to drive in the US is a bit shocking. Despite our cars having half the average fuel economy as Europe (there are LOTS of tiny cars over here,) our fuel prices are $2.72 less than the standard 60 country average. People, this isn’t going to last forever.
In my personal experience: I just traveled around France a bit, and a drive on the motorway of a little over one hour acquired a toll of 9.90 Euros (nearly $13.) I’m working from a cafe in London today and looking across the street, the petrol station says 136.9 p/L for Unleaded 95 (that’s pence per litre, and 95 octane unleaded.) Without bothering myself to do math, that’s damn near $10 per gallon.
Take a look below to check out more delicious info in pretty graphic form.
