How accurate are gas mileage monitors?
Ever since the meteoric rise of gas prices in 2008, gas mileage has become a top priority. The focus turned not only to the Environmental Protection Agency-rated mileage of our cars, but also to how that mileage could be optimized. It was even an issue in the 2008 U.S. presidential race, when then-candidate Barack Obama suggested that Americans check their tires, since proper inflation can dramatically improve gas mileage. There’s a problem with calculating accurate gas mileage, though, and there always has been. Most of us do a simple calculation each time our gas tank hits empty: number of miles on our odometer divided by the number of gallons we can fit in our gas tank. In theory, this provides an accurate assessment of how many miles we can drive per gallon. In reality, the number we come up with is a mere estimate that fluctuates by the tank, and even by the day. This is perfectly fine for coming up with a rough number, but things start to get hairy when you start trying to improv
