Tire Pressure Oil Savings
| August 6th, 2008 by Robert | Word Count: 1287 | Reading Time 5:00 | 3,360 views |
Barack Obama has recently been touting that Americans can decrease our dependence upon oil by driving on correctly pressurized tires and also by up keeping our car via regular maintenance. Is it too good to be true? Or, is this just another scam such as the fuel additives that “increase” gas mileage and the like? Today, we are going to analyze the situation and see if there is any truth to the claims made by Obama during his recent stops in his Presidential campaign. Don’t be scared of the numbers, they are only here for posterity’s sake. Doesn’t it sound great though that a simple check of your tire pressure and stopping by Valvoline/Jiffy Lube for your regular 3 month vehicle checkup could save you and our country millions (if not billions) of dollars at the pump? Let’s find out.
Of course, I start out skeptical when I hear most “facts” spoken by experts. Rarely is the day I take a report seriously until I can prove the validity of the information. This is one of those cases. I heard these expert backed facts and I put on my internet research hat and decided to find out if this hot air balloon was actually air worthy. So let’s get into some numbers.
Obama’s camp cites several “efficiency” experts regarding car maintenance. They propose that if American’s kept their tire pressures at the optimal level, car mileage would increase by 3%. On top of that, they state regular car maintenance will improve mileage by another 4%. This results in a 7% increase in American car mileage. 7% sure does sound like enough of an increase to create an impact. Based on some recent data, the average American car mileage is estimated to be 21 miles per gallon (mpg). If we tack on an additional 7%, we are now at 22.5 mpg. Now if we put it that way, it doesn’t sound like much. Wow, an extra 1.5 miles per gallon? Well, how about rolling that increase across the millions of miles Americans drive.
Based on some additional simple math, Americans average about 250 billion miles driven per month (3 trillion miles driven per year). This equals out to 11.9 billion gallons of gas per day at 21 mpg, 11.1 billion at 22.5 mpg. WOW! That is a lot of gas… and oil. Reports also state America utilizes 20 million barrels of oil per day. Each barrel of oil can produce about 19.5 gallons of gas. Simple math puts us at 20.3 million barrels of oil per day at 21 mpg, 19 million barrels at 22.5 mpg. Can it be? So far, we are right on the money with our estimates and math. Experts say we are at 20 million barrels of oil per day and our math above is right at it! As a note since we are using variable data here, if the average mpg per vehicle is lower (which I imagine could be true), the oil savings are actually better with any efficiency increase.
In those numbers above, it shows that based on a simple 7% increase in overall gas mileage, we can lower our oil utilization by 1.3 million barrels of oil per day. That equates to roughly a 6% decline in oil utilization (demand). After this trek through number crunching, we can safely say the experts are correct based on their “facts.” However, even though the numbers come through and support their stance, is it logical to truly believe the American automobile is in such a state across the board that will yield such an increase? Is it feasible?
I’m not so sure. So, I went searching for more statistics. I found the median age of the American vehicle fleet ranges from 7-9 years old. Half older, half newer, so let’s cut it in the middle and say all vehicles are on average, 8 years old. That means that in 2008, your average vehicle on the road is a model 2000. Based on these facts, the American highways are not littered with vehicles in terrible shape or running inefficient engine and vehicle designs. What the reports are missing is a major factor in these calculations. Where does the diesel, or tractor trailer, fit into the equation? Statistics show on average, the semi gets about 6-10 mpg. Do the efficiency experts include semi trucks in their equation? What about the total mileage driven by Americans, does it include tractor trailer mileage? I don’t know the answer to either.
I am highly skeptical as to the “facts” stated by the efficiency experts suggesting we would see an increase of 7% in mpg across our vehicle fleet. They are assuming a pretty sad state of vehicle maintenance and tire pressures. I just think we are aiming a bit too high here. In 2006, there were about 250 million registered vehicles in the country, 40% of them 6 years old or less (data supports the 8 year median age). If the experts are half right, we can potentially save about 700,000 barrels per day. Even at a measly 1% increase in mpg across our vehicle fleet yields a savings of 200,000 barrels per day.
Ok, I will settle and believe the efficiency experts that we could at least gain a measly 1% in mpg if we corrected our tire pressures and maintained our cars better. Does 200,000 barrels per day have any significance? Yes, it does actually. Current efforts to open up offshore drilling will supposedly lead to an increase in US oil production of 200,000 barrels per day… by the year 2030. So, if we were to be more efficient today, we could save the equivalent of what our offshore capabilities are 22 years from now. What about that oil field in Alaska we hear about called ANWR? Several estimates put production from the ANWR fields anywhere from 800,000 – 1.5 million barrels per day… in 2023.
Lots of numbers and lots of so-called facts from a variety of “experts,” but where does it leave us? Is it true we can save oil by being more efficient? Sure, but I believe Obama’s campaign is stating the absolute best case scenario known to man to achieve their 7% mpg increase. On the other hand, even 1% increase in efficiency creates the same effect today the opening of our offshore drilling sites would create by 2030 (when demand for oil is unknown). ANWR drilling is the only currently available option that could greatly impact our demand for oil. But, even then, that is 15 years away.
The efficiency experts are correct in their pursuits to have Americans keep their cars in optimal shape. It will help definitely our oil demands. But, unless there is a much larger than 1% overall increase, the impact will be negligible. What I am saying is that I don’t think an overall change in efficiency is going to impact our oil demands, today. It’s nice to think we will be more efficient, but how many people leave the lights on at home when it would be more efficient to turn them off when you leave the room? How many people leave the tv, computer, dvd player, or stereo on? Getting American people, all 300 some odd million of us, to be more efficient is a change that will take place along the same lines as the drilling programs above. I.E. it will take Americans 15-20 years to adopt new habits of efficiency. The simple answer to our problems day one is to not drive so much in our gas guzzling vehicles. That is the single, largest impact on our oil utilization we can achieve TODAY!
Citation: US Department of Transportation & http://www.time.com/
on August 6th, 2008 at 3:55 pm:
As an added bonus, here is some more statistical information relating to tire pressures and efficiency from Charles Territo, Auto Alliance (represents GM, Ford, Chrysler, etc) director of communications.
“The Department of Energy estimates that 1.2 billion gallons of fuel were wasted in 2005 as a result of driving on under-inflated tires.
Fuel efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 3 PSI that tires are under-inflated.
Experts estimate that 25% of automobiles are running on tires with lower than recommended pressure, because people don’t know how to check their tires or don’t realize that tires naturally lose air over time.”
on August 6th, 2008 at 4:07 pm:
P.S. Obama claims, based on “expert” information, we could see a 3-4% decline in oil consumption. A 3% decline of 20 million barrels of oil per day results in 600,000 less barrels utilized. The DOE states 1.2 billion gallons were wasted as a result of tire pressure. Let’s do some math.
1.2 Billion Gallons/19.5g per barrel of oil = 61.5 million barrels of oil wasted.
61.5 million / 365 days = 169,000 barrels of oil per day.
The percentages they are talking about are not adding up on this one.
on August 6th, 2008 at 4:10 pm:
Here is an insightful look into how competent our elected officials are:
Territo notes that the Auto Alliance sponsored tire pressure checks for members of Congress and their staff last week. “Surprisingly, we found that most drivers had tires between 5 and 7 pounds under inflated — some had tires under-inflated by as much as 20 pounds.”
on August 7th, 2008 at 12:44 am:
If you will notice most all politicians just tell enough to make their stories sound good. They don’t want the public to have all of the facts to figure things out on their own. Do they really think that the majority of the voters are so easily mislead or uncaring that they can’t figure things out for themselves? Then again maybe lots of people believe just about anything that they are told by these slick politicians.
In this day and time with so much knowledge at our fingertips, one would think that they would try to get their ducks in a row before they start telling things that can’t be backed up with proof. A good example of that just recently happened, not to mention any names but, “We were running and dodging sniper bullets as we departed the plane.” As Gomer Pyle would say, Gaaawlee that must have been terrible,now that there woman sure was brave. Good press if it had actually been true,but as we found out,this wasn’t what happened at all.
Do they think everyone believes everything they say, including about the oil situation? No, I don’t think so, but they have enough power to stay in leadership roles, and to make decisions involving the outcome of our country and how much oil we purchase or how much we can pump on our own. We need to learn how to conserve our resources.
Something that I don’t hear mentioned but very little and would probably save more gas than properly inflated tires would be replacing the air filter on your vehicle more often. How many people actually do this simple little project? The cost to replace the filter yourself is usually very minimal compared to gas prices.
I know that what I am going to tell you, will sound too good to be true, but at the present time there is in action a F250 Ford 3/4 ton loaded with camping gear and loaded with family,running with the air conditioner on, headed for Canada on a 4000 mile trip testing a new kit that was installed about a week ago. Before installing the kit the truck was averaging around 8 miles per gallon, without a load. As of this morning the truck is averaging 17 to 18 miles per gallon without any problems. If this pans out I believe we could be less dependent on foreign oil a lot sooner than anyone thinks.
What do you think?? More updates later!!
on August 7th, 2008 at 8:23 am:
Even with the wealth of knowledge the internet offers us, hardly anyone will utilize it to answer questions brought up in most situations. Instead, we will settle on listening to an “expert” on the subject, or a talking head on television, or even someone on the radio. We should still hear all of these viewpoints, but at some point, we must verify the data ourselves if at all possible.
The powers that be know the voting public is apathetic and they can take a small truth, make it an exaggerated media byte, and off they go on their campaign. Similar to this particular situation. Yes, tire pressure and maintenance will affect gas mileage, no doubt. But assuming our vehicle fleet and citizens driving them are so inept at car maintenance is beyond me. Not to mention getting EVERYONE to do something about it.
There are alternatives available today similar to what you have mentioned about the kit running on the truck. However, most people are not courageous enough to void their warranty by installing these kits. Fear keeps them from change. But, for every $100 trip to the pump, that fear decreases.
on August 7th, 2008 at 8:35 am:
I also found this tidbit on the government’s site regarding fuel economy.
Check & Replace Air Filters regularly:
Fuel Economy Benefit: up to 10%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings: up to $0.40/gallon
In addition, they throw in this estimate:
Use Recommended Grade of Motor Oil:
Fuel Economy Benefit: 1-2%
Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $0.04-$0.08/gallon
(The monetary savings are of course based on $4 per gallon gas)
on August 8th, 2008 at 12:00 pm:
Information from a recent Glenn Beck article on CNN regarding Obama’s campaign about oil savings from tire pressure and tune-ups:
“When The Associated Press asked Obama’s campaign for the figures they used to make that claim, they couldn’t produce any…”
“It turns out that about two-thirds of vehicles already have properly inflated tires.”