Is it time to charge per gallon per cylinder for gasoline?

[KansDem]

Back in the 1970s I thought one way to address the "energy crisis" would be to charge $0.10 per gallon per cylinder (don't forget; this was mid-1970s when gas was around 60 cents a gallon). With this approach, motorcycles in general would have paid 20 cents a gallon, VWs and smaller cars 40 cents, mid-sized 60 cents, and the huge, gas-guzzling luxury cars $1.20. I thought this the best way to conserve and reward those of us who drove smaller, fuel-efficient cars. I proposed my idea on occasion to friends and co-workers at the time, and the response ran from lukewarm to outright condemnation. "You can't punish those drivers with large cars just because they were 'successful' in business!" was the most common rejoinder.

I still think it's a good idea, although now the price would be something like 50 cents per gallon per cylinder.

[Fescue4u]

1. if $2 higher than normal prices doesnt stop people

from buying gas and driving gas gusslers. 10 cents wont either

[mattclearing]

2. Two questions.

1. Is it enforceable?

2. Don't people already burn more gas with more cylinders anyway? Or is this a tax proposal, whereby people are taxed more for having a more wasteful vehicle?

[KansDem]

5. No, it's what the driver would pay at the pump...

You pull into a filling station in a small 4-cylinder car--you pay $2.00 a gallon;
You pull into a filling station in a large 8-cylinder SUV--you pay $4.00 a gallon.

As for whether or not it's enforceable, we had gas rationing during WWII that seemed to work. I don't see anything that suggests this wouldn't work either.

[Kaylee]

8. So a V8 Honda Accord would pay more than a 4 cylinder SUV?

I'm ignorant to this:

Is it the size of the vehicle, the size of the gas tank, or the auto's fuel efficiency(mpg)that matters?

[KansDem]

12. According to the NADA, Honda doesn't make a V8 Accord

only a 4-cylinder, and I'm not sure what SUVs have only 4 cylinders, but it is safe to assume that an Accord driver would pay less than the average SUV driver...

[Kaylee]

16. Okay, a V6 Accord or any V8 car.

In your scenario a V6 or V8 car would pay more for gas than me. I have a 4-cylinder Santa Fe.

Or am I not understanding V6 versus 6-cylinder. Are they the same?

And why wouldn't mpg be the "ultimate" test of how 'good' an automobile is?

[KansDem]

22. Yes, a V6 or a V8 would pay more for gas than you...

and, yes, a V6 is the same as a 6-cylinder (V8 the same as an 8-cylinder).

I suppose "mpg" would be the ultimate test of how good an automobile is. In the perfect world, the higher the mpg, the lower the price of gasoline. You would essentially be rewarded for conserving the Earth's resources. But, until someone comes up with a formula for that and the ability to apply it to the average gasoline purchase, then counting cylinders may be the best (and easiest) way to go. Not perfect, but still a step in the right direction for rewarding fuel efficiency while penalizing gas guzzling.

[onenote]

11. not practical

Citing gas rationing in response to questions as to how you could enforce a per cylender gas price scheme is pretty much a non-sequitur response. As I see it, the practical problems with the idea are pretty much insurmountable. First of all, you can't tell how many cyliders a car has just from looking at it; and even if you could, what are stations going to do? Higher six new guys to stand around making sure you pump the right priced gas into your tank? And about those tanks...do you redesign and replace all the existing tanks or just designate each tank for a particular number of cylinders? If you do the latter, you'll end up with folks sitting in line burning more gas. And any of these ideas (more employees, new tanks, etc) will drive up costs and end up raising prices at the tank..even for the fuel efficient car owners.

onenote

[ComerPerro]

3. Not really a good idea, in think, because

it only makes fuel economy issues worse. If you have a 6 cyllinder engine and you only get 20 MPG, as compared to someone who gets 30 MPG with a 4, then you not only have to buy more gas than that person but you have to pay more as well.

Don't get me wrong, I find the "plight" of people with gas guzzlers to be quite hilarious. But I just don't think this would be very "fair" (as if anything is).

To me, they already punished enough with their crappy mileage.

[KansDem]

6. I wouldn't think so...

you not only have to buy more gas than that person but you have to pay more as well.

Here is a possible argument for this kind of proposal: You already assume you'll pay more for gas if you buy a large car that gets crappy mileage. That's the price you pay for luxury. However, not factored in that consideration is the price you should (have to) pay to society/civilization for frivolous waste of the country's/world's resources. That would be made up with the "per gallon/per cylinder" formula.

To me, they already punished enough with their crappy mileage.

Get crappy mileage: the price you pay for luxury.
Pay more for gas: the price you pay to society/civilization.
Sounds socialist I know, but after all we are in peak oil confronting two of the largest hurricanes on record which, some say, is due to climate change...

[ender]

4. lol

you know... you can deliver obscene performance with a 2 cylinder, right? the problem is evening out deliver of power...

[Redstone]

18. Oh, yes! You could have a 5-liter engine with two cylinders, each the size

of coffee cans! That would be pretty cool, except could you imagine the size of the flywheel you'd need to smooth out the power strokes?

Redstone

[catmandu57]

7. I've been advocating this for some time now

I think it's a very good idea, if you drive a car or truck then gasoline should correspond to the size of your engine, more cylinders = higher costs.

[Tace]

9. The Idea Could Have Merit

A similar, but different, approach would be a basic fuel allocation per person for energy. This would include home heating, lights, etc., and auto fuel. The allocations would allow for the purchase of energy at a fair cost. Any energy purchased beyond the allocation would cost a lot more. The excess would be a tax for renewable energy and rail infrastructure, etc.

I know that this would be unfair to people living in old houses, with high heating bills. However, it sure would discourage needless waste.

[ArkDem]

10. The McClaren has 4 cylinders and gets about 4 miles per gallon.

[Kaylee]

13. That's where I'm confused.....

Do the number of cylinders matter or is it the mpg of the vehicle. If this scenario were the case a 4-cylinder SUV would be able to fill up for less than an 8-cylinder car. Which one really is the "better" vehicle.

[KansDem]

21. One supposes the 4-cylinder "SUV" would get better gas mileage...

...than the 8-cylinder car, so therefore it would take less money to fill up the 4-cylinder one, or the "better" vehicle.

[Redstone]

17. The McClaren F1 has a TWELVE-cylinder engine.

Redstone

[Iktomiwicasa]

14. It would

screw over my people big time. Most of us on the rez can only afford old beat up whaleboat cars, not to mention the pickups that we absolutely depend on to haul all manner of things around.

[Redstone]

19. And other poor people everywhere, who can only afford

old beaters as well.

Good point.

Redstone

[KansDem]

20. I drive a 40-year old Chevy...

It's a straight six. So I would pay $3.00 a gallon for gas (50 cents per cylinder). When we buy old cars we would have to make the same decisions about fuel economy as we would when we buy new ones.

[Redstone]

15. Nope. We have two five-cylinder cars, and one gets

18 town / 24 highway (not great), and the other gets 24 town / 31 highway (damn good for a family-size car).

So that wouldn't be entirely fair. Many cars with V-6s get better mileage than my highly-turbocharged, 5-cylinder C70 convertible (the first car above), and they'd pay more.

Redstone