Montanans, we need to talk. It’s January, snow’s heaping up like unpaid bills, and your driveway’s the practical equivalent of the North Pole. You know, you’re getting in your car and letting it run for 10 minutes while you sip your coffee and wonder what the hell you’re doing with your life. But here’s the real deal: You don’t have to warm it up and your car’s not enjoying it that much, anyway.

Getting Warmed Up

That whole “warm up your car” thing? It is a myth as ancient as rotary phones. Back in the carburetor days, warming up was a must. But modern fuel-injected cars? After idling for only 30 seconds, they’re ready to hit the road. In fact, your engine warms up more quickly when you’re driving and not just chilling in the driveway.

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You’re Burning More Than Gas

Here’s the science: It’s up to 0.2 gallons of gas wasted by idling a car for five minutes. Do that every day all winter, and you’re practically tossing cash into the frozen wind. Some air quality groups worry that doing so holds up traffic and creates more pollution, and between all that idling, it’s extra wear and tear on your engine and your emissions increase. Translation? Your driveway turns into an expensive pollution center.

"But I Need My Heater!"

No one likes sitting in a freezing car, but here’s the thing: Your heater works faster when you’re moving. Sure, it’s cold for those first two minutes, but you’ll warm up much faster once you start moving. So bundle up, turn up your playlist and power through. You’ve got this.

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The Takeaway: Embrace the cold

Listen, I am one who will make a point to put boots on and start my vehicle every morning while I wait for coffee to brew. It makes the transition from a warm house to a warm car so much nicer. Plus you don't have to scrape the windshield if you blast the defroster for 10 minutes. But, after seeing the amount of gas I am burning doing this, I may be investing in a better coat and a fancy windshield scraper.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli

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