4 ms·

If they were in the UK wouldn’t they say miles per litre? Asking because I’m curious…

corobo 5y ago
The UK’s secret shame is that we use metric in front of Americans but then we go right back to using miles per gallon, miles in general, stones to weigh ourselves, pints for alcoholic drinks, litres for non It’s a total mess
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  Fahrenheit when it's hot, celsius when it's cold...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
unfocussed_mike 5y ago
No, as corobo says below, we never _say_ miles-per-litre; not even really young people who have only known litres at the pump.
- pvorb 5y ago
  How about kilometers per litre?
  - p49k 5y ago
    In most of Europe it’s not km/l but instead l/100km (number of liters required to drive 100km). It’s IMO a better way to frame consumption of resources.
    - ProblemFactory 5y ago
      I think we could reduce the litres / km (volume / distance) units to just square meters (area). For example, 7 litres / 100km = 0.07 mm^2 It's the cross-section of a noodle of fuel laid out along the road that the car needs without a gas tank.
      - pvorb 5y ago
        "How thick is your Spaghetti?" I really like that idea!
dm319 5y ago
Such a mess. We pay for fuel and think of tank capacity in litres, but use mpg for efficiency. Getting an electric has made me just think we should shift fully metric and be done with it. Distances in km, speed in km/hr, consumption in kwh/100km or similar.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  Canada normally uses liters except for swimming pools, and then it's back to gallons for some reason.
  - _ofdw 5y ago
    Probably because boomers who grew up with the imperial system are the only ones who can afford swimming pools in Canada.
    - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
      Haha. Also I guess because the larger unit makes for easier comparison. For example, while we in the UK we still habitually use imperial measures to weigh ourselves rather than metric, we don't know our weight in pounds, but in stones and pounds, which gives a more manageable/comparable number. It's so habitual to do that, that many people (including me) can't easily do the mental maths conversion to a US-style imperial weight at all. It still enrages me that there are 14 pounds in a stone but 16 ounces in a pound. What kind of system of logic is that?
      - na85 5y ago
        That's why I'm of the opinion that, just as with the Oxford Comma, only godless heretics eschew the metric system. I can't tell you how many feet are in a mile, or at what temperature water boils in farenheit, or what the fuck a quart is, and I gleefully don't care!
throwaway22032 5y ago
We use miles per UK gallon. Every now and then for personal purposes I think about pence per mile (to compare with e.g. the bus or whatever). My car is about 15p per mile in purely fuel costs by that metric.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  It's very striking to think that within weeks -- if not already -- most British workers who need to claim mileage will be subsidising their employment.
  - throwaway22032 5y ago
    Eh? I mean if you have a crap car maybe? The allowance is 45p per mile going down to 25p after 10k miles. If it doubles, then yeah, we're screwed. To be fair though I guess a lot of people own fancy new cars and so they're already paying more than 45p/mile due to depreciation alone
    - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
      There are feasible predictions that we could see £2.50 per litre at the height of this crisis -- which is, what, £11.38 per gallon? At say 30mpg (city driving) isn't that 37p per mile? Unless you're prepared to write off the share of running costs, MOT, tires, insurance which costs a fortune, and is all intended to be covered by the 45p per mile, is it not? All of which could rise by 8% this year (inflation prediction). As far as I remember reading, most people would already be subsidising once the fuel part reaches about 28-30p per mile. From what I can tell, very few people in the UK have done the maths as to what is coming for cost of living in the next few months. If the government does not do more than the pathetic measures they have already announced, there will be riots. It is going to be bad on a scale that a person of the median age is too young to remember.
kingkongjaffa 5y ago
Well it would be km per litre... But no, uk uses mph and mpg.

The UK’s secret shame is that we use metric in front of Americans but then we go right back to using miles per gallon, miles in general, stones to weigh ourselves, pints for alcoholic drinks, litres for non It’s a total mess

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
Fahrenheit when it's hot, celsius when it's cold...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

unfocussed_mike 5y ago

No, as corobo says below, we never _say_ miles-per-litre; not even really young people who have only known litres at the pump.

pvorb 5y ago
How about kilometers per litre?
- p49k 5y ago
  In most of Europe it’s not km/l but instead l/100km (number of liters required to drive 100km). It’s IMO a better way to frame consumption of resources.
  - ProblemFactory 5y ago
    I think we could reduce the litres / km (volume / distance) units to just square meters (area). For example, 7 litres / 100km = 0.07 mm^2 It's the cross-section of a noodle of fuel laid out along the road that the car needs without a gas tank.
    - pvorb 5y ago
      "How thick is your Spaghetti?" I really like that idea!

dm319 5y ago

Such a mess. We pay for fuel and think of tank capacity in litres, but use mpg for efficiency. Getting an electric has made me just think we should shift fully metric and be done with it. Distances in km, speed in km/hr, consumption in kwh/100km or similar.

missedthecue 5y ago
Canada normally uses liters except for swimming pools, and then it's back to gallons for some reason.
- _ofdw 5y ago
  Probably because boomers who grew up with the imperial system are the only ones who can afford swimming pools in Canada.
  - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
    Haha. Also I guess because the larger unit makes for easier comparison. For example, while we in the UK we still habitually use imperial measures to weigh ourselves rather than metric, we don't know our weight in pounds, but in stones and pounds, which gives a more manageable/comparable number. It's so habitual to do that, that many people (including me) can't easily do the mental maths conversion to a US-style imperial weight at all. It still enrages me that there are 14 pounds in a stone but 16 ounces in a pound. What kind of system of logic is that?
    - na85 5y ago
      That's why I'm of the opinion that, just as with the Oxford Comma, only godless heretics eschew the metric system. I can't tell you how many feet are in a mile, or at what temperature water boils in farenheit, or what the fuck a quart is, and I gleefully don't care!

throwaway22032 5y ago

We use miles per UK gallon. Every now and then for personal purposes I think about pence per mile (to compare with e.g. the bus or whatever). My car is about 15p per mile in purely fuel costs by that metric.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
It's very striking to think that within weeks -- if not already -- most British workers who need to claim mileage will be subsidising their employment.
- throwaway22032 5y ago
  Eh? I mean if you have a crap car maybe? The allowance is 45p per mile going down to 25p after 10k miles. If it doubles, then yeah, we're screwed. To be fair though I guess a lot of people own fancy new cars and so they're already paying more than 45p/mile due to depreciation alone
  - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
    There are feasible predictions that we could see £2.50 per litre at the height of this crisis -- which is, what, £11.38 per gallon? At say 30mpg (city driving) isn't that 37p per mile? Unless you're prepared to write off the share of running costs, MOT, tires, insurance which costs a fortune, and is all intended to be covered by the 45p per mile, is it not? All of which could rise by 8% this year (inflation prediction). As far as I remember reading, most people would already be subsidising once the fuel part reaches about 28-30p per mile. From what I can tell, very few people in the UK have done the maths as to what is coming for cost of living in the next few months. If the government does not do more than the pathetic measures they have already announced, there will be riots. It is going to be bad on a scale that a person of the median age is too young to remember.

kingkongjaffa 5y ago

Well it would be km per litre... But no, uk uses mph and mpg.