Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Virginia since last night

Re:Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Vir... by dahfizz on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @08:25PM (#29803680)

> Rough metric is you get 1 hour of engine idle per gallon.

From personal experience that seems extremely conservative, although that may be the point. According to [1], a semi truck or city bus use a little less than a gallon per hour idling.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/fact-861-february-23-20...

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Re:Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Vir... by ddingus on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @08:31PM (#29803747)

It's totally the point. For a more precise data, I know my Ford Expedition and Chev Suburban both use about 1/2 gallon per hour, and my Honda is about 1/3.

But, when planning like this it pays to be ultra conservative. Shit happens.

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Re:Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Vir... by driverdan on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @11:19PM (#29805081)

Diesels use less fuel when idling.

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Re:Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Vir... by ddingus on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @11:41PM (#29805199)

How much? I have almost no experience with them.

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Re:Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Vir... by throwaway0a5e on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @07:07AM (#29807978)

A ton less.

Basically it has to do with a diesel throttling the fuel and never having any restriction on the air vs a gas engine throttling the air.

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Re:Motorists have been stranded on a major interstate in Vir... by ddingus on Wednesday January 05, 2022 @06:14PM (#29816563)

Thanks. Interesting. I understand why people get those little diesel heaters, generators.

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