Mileage, in Metric

Is there such a word as Kilometerage? If not, what is the
corresponding word that is used in place of MILEAGE in English-
speaking places that use the Metric System?

Are there separate words for the separate meanings of Mileage?

Which meanings do I mean?

One which describes distance (How much Mileage did you put on that
rental car?), and the other which describes fuel economy (What kind of
Mileage do you get in that hybrid?). Do they measure fuel economy in
Kilometers per Liter, or what?

In article
>,
wrote:

> Is there such a word as Kilometerage? If not, what is the
> corresponding word that is used in place of MILEAGE in English-
> speaking places that use the Metric System?

I went to www.dictionary.com to look for evidence that this was
a silly question. Turns out it isn't so silly after all. They
say: "Kilometrage" may be used in the same way as "mileage".

-john-

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wrote:
> Is there such a word as Kilometerage? If not, what is the
> corresponding word that is used in place of MILEAGE in English-
> speaking places that use the Metric System?
>
> Are there separate words for the separate meanings of Mileage?
>
> Which meanings do I mean?
>
> One which describes distance (How much Mileage did you put on that
> rental car?), and the other which describes fuel economy (What kind of
> Mileage do you get in that hybrid?). Do they measure fuel economy in
> Kilometers per Liter, or what?


The metric fuel economy unit tends to vary, actually, by the region of
the world. Kilometers per liter (that is, a distance per unit of fuel
ratio, as is miles per gallon) is common in Canada, to the best of my
knowledge. However, liters per 100 kilometers (the reverse, a volume of
fuel per unit of distance ratio) is used quite frequently in Europe.

1 mpg = 0.425 km/L
1 km/L = 2.352 mpg

Those can be compared directly since they express the ratio the same
way, distance per volume. On the other hand, you can't do that with the
L/100 km unit; but there is a mathematical formula for converting them
as well.

(x) mpg * (y) L/100 km = 235.215

That is to say, a car's fuel economy values in mpg and L/100 km, when
multiplied, will always yield 235.215. For example, 10 mpg = 23.5215
L/100 km, 100 mpg = 2.35215 L/100 km, and so on. My car just happens to
average around 23.5 mpg in the summer, so using the European metric
unit, it would get 10 L/100 km.

I once read a press release from some European carmaker, I forget who,
talking about a "3 car" in reference to the fuel economy they hoped to
achieve with it. Upon first glance, I thought they were hoping to match
the M1 Abrams military tank's mileage, but later on in the text, they
explained that they were talking about 3 L/100 km -- an astonishing 78.4
miles per gallon. (Obviously, this was going to be some tiny car as is
more typical in Europe than here.)

--
Larry Harvilla
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Transport Canada officially uses L/100 km, with a conversion to Miles/
(Imperial)Gallon.

On Feb 29, 11:31*am, Gary V > wrote:
> Transport Canada officially uses L/100 km, with a conversion to Miles/
> (Imperial)Gallon.


Do the cars sold in Canada typically have metric odometers?
Speedometers usually have dual markings so they can be read either
way; odometers display only in miles. Even though my car has an
electronic odometer, I don't think there's a way to switch it from
miles to kilometers. This makes it really difficult to compute either
mileage or kilometrage. (I just know it costs a lot more for gas when
I drive in Canada!) Instead, do people ever think in terms of
"Mileiterage", or miles per liter of gas, for the purpose of
quantifying how fuel efficient their cars are when driving in Canada?

Elmer

In article >,
Elmer > wrote:
>On Feb 29, 11:31*am, Gary V > wrote:
>> Transport Canada officially uses L/100 km, with a conversion to Miles/
>> (Imperial)Gallon.
>
>
>Do the cars sold in Canada typically have metric odometers?

Yep. Been that way since the 1978 model year--the highways converted to
metric in September 1977. (Hmm, since this is going to misc.transport.road,
I'll point out that last I looked there's a big white informational sign
with all this information on westbound Highway 3 somewhere in Fort Erie,
Ontario. And yeah, the sign does look like it's been there for quite a
while.)

I'm pretty sure that the change from gallons to litres didn't happen until
a bit later, maybe 1980.

>Speedometers usually have dual markings so they can be read either
>way; odometers display only in miles. Even though my car has an
>electronic odometer, I don't think there's a way to switch it from
>miles to kilometers. This makes it really difficult to compute either
>mileage or kilometrage. (I just know it costs a lot more for gas when
>I drive in Canada!) Instead, do people ever think in terms of
>"Mileiterage", or miles per liter of gas, for the purpose of
>quantifying how fuel efficient their cars are when driving in Canada?

My '78 Trans Am has, and '79 Firebird had, 140 km/h (~85 MPH) speedometers.
Every other km/h is indicated by a hash mark, and every 10 km/h has the digit
printed (other than 10: it goes from 0 to 20). The MPH markings are very
small, every 10 MPH, and don't have any hash marks to really locate them.

No such thing as electronic odometers in a '78 Pontiac!

Fortunately I can pretty easily convert MPH signs to km/h when I'm driving in
the US (the '78 Trans Am is my only car). Seeing ramp speed signs that are
absurdly low still throws me, and when I see distances in miles I usually
have to convert to kilometres to really understand how much further I have
to go.

I calculate my fuel economy in litres/100 km. My Trans Am does 14L/100km
typically; 13L/100km on a good day; and 15+L/100km in winter.

Note that when I started driving, speed limits were in MPH. But I've had 30
years of strictly metric distances/speeds, and almost as long for volumes.

.....Ed

On Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:05:52 -0800 (PST), Elmer >
wrote:

>On Feb 29, 11:31*am, Gary V > wrote:
>> Transport Canada officially uses L/100 km, with a conversion to Miles/
>> (Imperial)Gallon.
>
>
>Do the cars sold in Canada typically have metric odometers?

Yes.

>Speedometers usually have dual markings so they can be read either
>way; odometers display only in miles. Even though my car has an
>electronic odometer, I don't think there's a way to switch it from
>miles to kilometers. This makes it really difficult to compute either
>mileage or kilometrage. (I just know it costs a lot more for gas when
>I drive in Canada!) Instead, do people ever think in terms of
>"Mileiterage", or miles per liter of gas, for the purpose of
>quantifying how fuel efficient their cars are when driving in Canada?
>
>Elmer

wrote:

> Is there such a word as Kilometerage? If not, what is the
> corresponding word that is used in place of MILEAGE in English-
> speaking places that use the Metric System?

litres per 100 km

Yes it's a crap measure since lower = better using that measure and hence
unintuitive IMHO.

I'd far rather see km/litre.

Graham

Gary V wrote:

> Transport Canada officially uses L/100 km

This is the standard and rather crappy measure. It's daft IMHO.

Graham

Ed Treijs wrote:

>
>
> My '78 Trans Am has, and '79 Firebird had, 140 km/h (~85 MPH) speedometers.
> Every other km/h is indicated by a hash mark, and every 10 km/h has the digit
> printed (other than 10: it goes from 0 to 20). The MPH markings are very
> small, every 10 MPH, and don't have any hash marks to really locate them.
>
> No such thing as electronic odometers in a '78 Pontiac!
>
> Fortunately I can pretty easily convert MPH signs to km/h when I'm driving in
> the US (the '78 Trans Am is my only car). Seeing ramp speed signs that are
> absurdly low still throws me,

Heh, it bothers us too, and we're used to reading signs in MPH.

nate

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