Question

Your small remodeling business has two work vehicles. One is a small passenger car used for job-site visits and for other general business purposes. The other is a heavy truck used to haul equipment. The car gets 25 miles per gallon (mpg). The truck gets 10 mpg. You want to improve gas mileage to save money, and you have enough money to upgrade one vehicle. The upgrade cost will be the same for both vehicles. An upgraded car will get 40 mpg; an upgraded truck will get 12.5 mpg. The cost of gasoline is $3.40 per gallon.

Calculate the annual fuel savings, in gallons, for the truck and car assuming both vehicles are driven 9,000 miles per year. (Round your answers to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.)

	Fuel savings
Truck	gallons per year
Car	gallons per year

Assuming an upgrade is a good idea in the first place, which one should you upgrade? Both vehicles are driven 9,000 miles per year.

	Car
	Truck

Answer 1

Car:

Initial Mile Average = 25 mpg, Fuel Cost = $ 3.4 per gallon and Annual Distance = 9000 miles

Number of Gallons of Fuel Required Annually = 9000 / 25 = 360 gallons

Post upgrade, the car has a mile average of 40mpg. Number of Gallons of Fuel Required Annually = 9000 / 40 = 225 gallons

Annual Fuel Savings = 360 - 225 = 135 gallons

Truck:

Initial Mile Average = 10 mpg, Fuel Cost = $ 3.4 per gallon and Annual Distance = 9000 miles

Number of Gallons of Fuel Required Annually = 9000 / 10 = 900 gallons

Post upgrade, the truck has a mile average of 12.5 mpg. Number of Gallons of Fuel Required Annually = 9000 / 12.5 = 720 gallons

Annual Fuel Savings = 900 - 720 = 180 gallons

One should upgrade the truck as it leads to a greater per annum savings in fuel, as compared to the car.