So I know driving takes gas, and having my lights on costs battery power. But somehow driving charges the battery? Does that cost me extra gas? And what actually costs me gas also? Does standing still with the motor on cost me gas? If I have heating on max? If I have airco on max? What kind of driving costs more or less gas? I am so confused with this all. I dont feel like I am doing anything insane in my car, but still the total amount of km I can drive varies so much on a full gas tank. It goes from 600 to 400 and I have no idea why. I hope there is someone who can explain this to me
In: Engineering
It’s all about energy.
All of the things done by a car require energy. All of the energy in a car comes from the engine, with some of it pausing in the battery for a while before being used. It even costs some energy to keep the engine running.
All of that energy is roughly equivalent to gas. More energy means more gas.
Keeping the engine running uses some gas. Nothing crazy, but enough to be significant. Turning on your lights does as well. *Way* less energy, though – an insignificant amount.
While the heater does require energy, it actually taps off of the wasted energy of the engine and so does not use additional gas (but will still only work when the engine is running).
Accelerating the car takes a lot of energy. That’s a lot of gas. Keeping it moving also does this, but not near so much as accelerating.
The air conditioning also costs a fair amount of energy – it is the most fuel/energy-intensive subsystem of the car.
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