I Will Not Put Gas in My Car This Year

I started the year with a full tank of gas in my car. I'm not allowed to refill it before December 31st, 2017.

I don't work from home; I go into the office every day. I'll be doing a lot more business traveling in 2017. I drive to bike races all over the Mid-Atlantic. How am I going to pull this off?

I bought a Boosted Board (version 2.0!) back in September and started using it as my fair-weather daily commuting vehicle. These days, I can't imagine not using it. It was 15°F outside this morning and I happily Boosted to work (albeit with a little bit of brain freeze).

It checks all the commuting boxes:

  • It's the fastest way to commute to work. Door-to-door on the Boosted Board takes 7 minutes. Walking: 25 minutes; driving: 12 minutes.
  • No worries about parking; I can take it with me.
  • Less sweaty than a bike in the 100-degree summers. I've tried riding a bike. I'd be coasting down a hill and feel the familiar drop of sweat forming on my forehead. The Boosted Board creates a nice, cool breeze with zero effort.
  • It's environmentally friendly.
  • It's fast. Really fast.
  • It's fun. Really fun.

My car sits in the garage for weeks and I don't even think about it.

So for 2017 I thought I'd stretch the rubber band a bit more, setting an upper-limit on when I can use my car. I already intuitively opt for the Boosted Board when it's possible, but I wanted to apply some hard numbers.

Average travel per week

  • 21 miles
  • 15 mi commuting
  • 6 mi extra business travel (driving to airport, downtown meetings, etc.)

Car stats

  • 47mpg
  • 10-gallon gas tank
  • $2.50/gal average Maryland gas prices
  • 470 mile range per tank
  • ~1 tank fill per 20 days (18 tank-fills per year)

$37.50 per month spent on gas if it's my primary mode of transportation.

Days per month I can realistically use the Boosted Board 20 (10 days per month are rainy in the DC-area)

means I should count on driving my car about 30 miles per month, which equates to 1 tank-fill every fifteen months (i.e. less than once a year).

This gives me a bit of wiggle room, accounting for driving to bike races, lower fuel efficiency in the winter, etc.

What will I do in 2018 and beyond? Depending on when this delivers, I'll hopefully never set foot in a gas station again.

Written on Jan 10th, 2017