Yeah, but those high prices are also why Europe's been making small fuel-efficient cars for some time now, and the "low" prices here are a big reason why there are so many SUVs, Hummers, and other gas-guzzling tanks on the streets here. I keep hearing Smart cars are on their way, but haven't seen any yet. They're about half the length of a mid-sized American car.

"The smart fortwo that is available in the United States is:
o 8.8 feet long (you can usually fit two smart fortwos in an average parking space!)
o 5.1 feet tall (the smart still has as much headroom as most luxury vehicles!)
o 5.1 feet wide (two six foot, five inch plus people can sit side by side with plenty of shoulder room to spare!)

Engineering and testing continues to take place on the vehicle that will be produced for the United States. The vehicle is designed to achieve 40 city/45 highway mpg according to 2007 EPA standards and 33 city/41 highway mpg according to 2008 EPA standards. The mpg rating for all vehicles will decrease in 2008 due to new calculation methods that the EPA has adopted. These methods involve measuring mpg while taking into account real life driving conditions such as start/stop city traffic, air conditioning, heating, etc. The gas tank of the smart fortwo is 8.7 gallons."

From http://www.smartusa.com/smart-car-faq.aspx

 

But those are Imperial Gallons.

 

I'm not positive, but I believe Europe has a lot of cities relatively close together with out the sprawling spaces that defines the American landscape.
There is nothing outside of the US that compares to the immensity and scope of the interstate highway system.
I imagine doing 6 hours in a Smart Car on the autobahn gets old real fast.

 

Liters converted to US gallons.

 

There aren' that many places in Germany you can actually do six hours on the autobahn. Off hand, Hamburg to Munich is the only one I can think of unless you include Austria, France or the Czech Republic. That trip is about 783 kilometeres or 490 miles. Given a conservative autobahn cruise speed of 130 clicks, (80 miles per hour) that gives a bare six hours. Almost everywhere else is shorter, and most are a lot shorter. Go any slower and you become an obstacle!

 

Round trip?

 

OK....I am going to "date" myself. Coke was 5 cents in the machine,heavy glass bottle. Gas was 17 cents a gallon, pulled up and ordered a "bucks" worth most of the time. Not long after, gas went to 5 gallons for a dollar. Big advertising on this....cardboard signs with paint applied by hand. ahhh the good old days.....

 

My other car is a smart! This is older (2005) diesel one they sell in Canada.

It's actually a lot of fun, and is surprisingly good on the highway, though I don't think I'd do a cross country tour in it.

Pretty sad when the Camry is the gas guzler in the family.

Later!

Dang