Gasoline Prices

Down where I live, the average price of regular gas is $2.11, which seems really high based on the fact that we are so used to paying $1.20 -$1.50 per gallon in my area (I can't speak for other parts of the country). Yet, everywhere I look I still see SUVs driving around.
This of course got me to thinking about how much an SUV owner could expect to spend on annual basis for gas. So, I built a handy little spreadsheet and punched in some numbers and this is what I came up with:

Miles        Gallons  Cost Per  Total
Driven  MPG    Used    Gallon    Cost
15,000  40       375    $2.11     $791
15,000  34       441    $2.11     $931
15,000  32       469    $2.11     $989
15,000  30       500    $2.11   $1,055
15,000  28       536    $2.11   $1,130
15,000  26       577    $2.11   $1,217
15,000  25       600    $2.11   $1,266
15,000  24       625    $2.11   $1,319
15,000  22       682    $2.11   $1,439
15,000  20       750    $2.11   $1,583
15,000  17       882    $2.11   $1,862
15,000  15      1000    $2.11   $2,110
15,000  12      1250    $2.11   $2,638
15,000  10      1500    $2.11   $3,165

Now lets compare these numbers with the price of gas when it was $1.30 per gallon:

Miles        Gallons  Cost Per  Total
Driven  MPG    Used    Gallon    Cost
15,000  40       375    $1.30     $488
15,000  34       441    $1.30     $574
15,000  32       469    $1.30     $609
15,000  30       500    $1.30     $650
15,000  28       536    $1.30     $696
15,000  26       577    $1.30     $750
15,000  25       600    $1.30     $780
15,000  24       625    $1.30     $813
15,000  22       682    $1.30     $886
15,000  20       750    $1.30     $975
15,000  17       882    $1.30   $1,147
15,000  15      1000    $1.30   $1,300
15,000  12      1250    $1.30   $1,625
15,000  10      1500    $1.30   $1,950

That's quite a difference. I'm glad I get reasonable performance from our two cars (a Civic and a Buick Rendezvous). My guess is that sales of SUVs will fall further. This isn't good news for Detriot.

As a side note, there's a pretty good piece regarding gas prices over on Weissblog. Go check it out.