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[–] 31 points 5 months ago (9 children)

$5 per US gallon would be 98p (GBP) per litre. I don't think fuel has been that cheap here in the last 10 years.

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  • [–] 17 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    According to the RAC it was earlier than 2010. But then I don't get a lifetime of medical debt if I get injured so at least at have that going for us. Currently.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 11 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Never really bothered to do the conversions but now I've just realised how cheap gasoline was in the US. The cheapest I remember seeing pump prices in the uk was in late 90s where it was £0.65/L, which would make it around £2.46/gallon and therefore $4.15/gallon given the apparent exchange rate at the time.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    In the late 90s (or maybe 2000) in the US Midwest, I remember paying $0.79 a gallon, or $0.21/L. With the exchange rate then, it works out to £0.13/L. So yeah, it was cheap. I filled my 15 gallon tank for the cost of 2 hours at my just above minimum wage job.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    FWIW, I learned to drive when it was ~$0.95/gal, and lived in the UK ~'05, so I feel keenly that a fairer comparison might be each region's % of prol take-home avg that's leeched by fuel costs. Is there an acronym for that?

    Let's say that these two nations' Unit Price and MPG/KPL avgs are:

    • US: $4.32/g | 26 mpg
    • UK: £1.59/L | 36 kpl

    Also, the nat'l avgs of "median wage worker" incomes are:

    • US: $50,153 (£37,276.47)
    • UK: £32,236 ($43,369.83)

    The fuel cost/yr as % of gross earnings, and minutes-of-work per fill unit would look like:

    • US: 2.12% | 7.4 mins/g (1.95/L) up 28% since 2019
    • UK: 1.01% | 4.5 mins/L (17.2/g) down 7% since 2019 (income rose 31%)

    Now, for some of us, the slice off the year's top is image enough, but that minutes of work per gallon/liter punches low. 🤌🏼

    If you find yourself with a surplus of joy and need it gone, run your own numbers for minutes per gallon/liter (commute fuel usage * 2) = minutes paid to earn the rest. 😅

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