To me, it gets more and more obvious that going by car is rather stupid. (Except as a male toy for pushing your ego. And, of course, in order to be a success with beautiful women). Today, I want to discuss the costs.
A short time ago, I heard a humorous report on “Bayern 2”. It was about how fast you can drive at an average if you take into consideration all costs of the car. Well, the result was 6 km/h. At least, it is faster by 50 % than walking.
I did the opposite calculation (cost account) and got the following result:
Let us assume that the total costs for a car of the Golf-class doing between 15,000 and 20,000 kilometres per year is around 500.- € per month. That would be 6,000 Euros in one year. If you assume a total of 15,000 kilometres every year, you get 40 cent/km at an average daily mileage of 41 km.
When I explained this as we were sitting around the regular’s table, my friend Walter immediately told me that my calculation was wrong. His three-class BMW costs between 60 and 70 cent per kilometre. Walter is a managing director and an excellent businessman. But let me continue with my calculation…
Let us assume the driver’s daily route is through the city and suburbs. In that case, his average speed will be around 40 km/h. Consequently, he will have to spend at least one hour each day in his car.
I am now assuming that our model car-owner has a gross income of 40,000 €. That is not too bad at all. It would mean he has to spend 10,000 Euros or one quarter of his yearly income on the car (of course, these are all just approximations).
Incidentally, my friend Walter would need at least an additional 50 % for his BMW that is more than 15,000 Euros per year. Since, however, he probably earns more than our model car-owner, the rate will again be correct. But let us get back to our calculation…
Assuming that the daily working time (including the way there and back, lunch and cigarette breaks) is 10 hours (that adds up to 50 hours each week); one quarter of the entire time spent in the car is 12.5 hours. If you relate that to workdays, you get 2.5 hours each day. In relation to the entire week, you get 2 daily hours for the car.
In other words: you have to work two hours each day in order to be allowed to sit in the car for one hour. Isn’t that a terrible idea? And then, you also have to invest quite a bit of your leisure time in order to keep your car in shape: scraping the ice from the window panes, trying to find your car in the parking area, paying for the parking, driving to the fuel station, tyre check, repair works, maintenance work, legal problems with someone involved in a car crash, paying administrative fees, having to go to the hospital after an accident… And on Sundays, you have to wash and polish the car.
So – now we have well over 3 three hours for 41 kilometres. At least, it is still better than those 6 km/h reported by the “Bayerischer Rundfunk”. I guess there is still a mistake somewhere in my calculation.
Of course, (as the example “Walter” shows), life is again unfair. If, for instance, the car-owner has a gross income of 100,000 Euros, then we are only talking a tenth of his working time. On the other hand, such a person would probably want more than just a Golf. He would probably drive a luxury limousine or a SUV by AUDI, BMW, Mercedes or even Porsche. Such a car, however, costs easily twice as much per kilometre as a Golf that is 80 to 120 cent per kilometre. So here we are again: in no time, even the rich man has to spend at least one quarter of his time for his car.
Well, maybe this last conclusion of mine was a bit stupid, after all. If you drive a big SUV, the S Class or a Porsche in Germany, you will, of course, register it as a business car. That means the rest of the population pay a lot more.
No matter how I think about it, I come to the conclusion that cars are ingenious means for exploiting people. Consequently, I will no longer go anywhere by car. And I really feel a lot better since I no longer drive a car. After all, there is one feeling no car can give me: moving under my own steam. And that is what life is all about, isn’t it? Well, if I wished to do that I would have to push the car in front of me. I am sure it would be good for my fitness – but I really do not feel like doing so … I prefer writing about the car in a provocative way.
MD
(Translated by EG)
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