“Should I stay or should I go now?” – ah, the song is floating in my head!
You should definitely GO if you have family to visit or to experiene the world and do business!
But which way is more efficient? Flying can, in some cases, win over Driving in “MPG”. Yes, cost is another issue because Airfare varies so much, but we can start with which method might be more “green” in your particular case. Note: This is not including EV’s but as you will in our other calculators and articles, an EV is in the same efficiency range as a decent Hybrid, so choose the 40 or 45 MPG (NOT the EPA 100+, which is misleading) – and see the results.
Fly or Drive?
See the effective “MPG” of your trip by air vs. by car.
Results are for the one-way distance you selected.
Fly
85
MPG equivalent
About 11.8 gallons
of fuel per passenger
More fuel efficient
Drive
70
MPG equivalent
About 14.3 gallons
for your vehicle
More fuel efficient
For 2 people traveling 1,000 miles,
flying is more fuel efficient
than driving a 35 MPG car.
Air efficiency is an estimated MPG equivalent based on
real-world U.S. commercial airline operations and average
passenger load. It is not based on an airplane flying completely full.
How we calculate this →
How we calculate this →