MPG is OVERRATED

I think we should rid the auto industry of traditional thinking when it comes to miles per gallon translating into vehicle “efficiency".  The fact that we judge all cars/trucks/suvs by the same standard MPG rating is ludicrous at best.  You can’t rate a Honda Civic and a Chevy Suburban on the same scale.  Although both vehicles were designed to carry people primarily, one was clearly built for more.  As a result, a more effective system should adopted similar to the one I use (“Little Efficiency Rating System” or the “L.E.R.S”) when my friends ask me which vehicle is better for them.  This is my own perspective on real world vehicle efficiency and it works MUCH better than the current “1 size fits all” mpg rating (and penalty) program and it is far more accurate in determining a vehicle’s true efficiency.  Sure our Bureaucracy can complicate it as they do everything else by adding several variables and factors to it but here’s how it works in its simplest form.  

Not that you’d consider the two as buying options, one or the other, but just for the sake of proving the current system is flawed and in need of updating, compare the Honda Civic and the Chevy Suburban in terms of efficiency.  Simply multiply a vehicle’s mpg by its occupant capacity.  The higher the number, the more efficient it is.  For example, a Civic gets 34 mpg times its maximum occupant capacity of 4 and you get a L.E.R.S score of 144.  Now apply the same formula to the Suburban; 20 mpg times 8 (max. occupants) and you get a score of 160.  If a vehicle is a 4wd (not AWD), multiply that final number by 1.05 (5% avg off road use for 4x4s) and the Suburban would get a score of 168.  The 4x4 IS at least a little more effective than a 4x2, is it not?  Clearly the Suburban is more efficient at carrying people and this system proves it.  Again, you could complicate it by adding stuff like horsepower ratings, hp/lb ratings, crash test ratings (these are severly flawed too), gross vehicle weight and tow ratings, carbon footprints (btw, this should be divided among overall capacity too, not based on individual vehicle carbon emissions), passenger seat sensors and junk like that.  So why are car companies being forced to make smaller, better mpg cars when that’s not really the point?  If it were, we'd all be driving motorcycles by federal mandate.  Automobiles were made to carry people.  Some happen to do a lot of other things too.  SUVs shouldn't be "sports utility vehicles".  They should be MP2s.  So shouldn’t the "multi-people/multi-purpose vehicles" and their manufacturers should be rewarded instead of punished for building truly efficient automobiles?  Just my 2 cents.  

Apparently the train (I think Amtrack) company has a method for determing fuel mileage kind of like you. It is on their commericals, not exactly spelled out. Weight divided by mileage divided by gallons 1,000,000pounds/10,000 miles/100 gallons= 1gallon per 100 miles. One hunderd miles on one gallon of fuel. The greater the weight the greater the fuel efficiency. After reading your post I saw their commerical and had to laugh. I still would rather be driving with hydrogen fuel.  

How many people actually drive their Suburbans with 7 passengers in them though? Not many. A lot more people probably buy Suburbans (and vehicles like it) for towing duties. And then there are those who buy the gas guzzling pig just to go grocery shopping, and to pick up the kids from school.

A system like that could probably be used as an added parameter to compare vehicles by, but it couldn't replace MPG ratings.