Car vs. Horse

[ewedistrict]

Which is more cost-effective, a car or a horse? If it's not cost effective yet, when will it be? I was just a complete jerk and made some poor soul walk around Cash&Carry to satisfy my curiosity. I did get answers, though:

Energy Density, Gasoline
34.6 megajoules / L (via wikipedia

Comments

[rjl20]

Good luck plowing the back 40 with your car, though...

[ewedistrict]

You can get of them tail bags, and then use it as fertilizer!

[clango]

i am one step ahead:

[socnevali]

Actually, a lot of horses are being abandoned these days because of rising feed costs. Most people don't live on enough land anymore to produce adequate food for one horse for a year, so it all gets trucked in from farm areas (around here, from Eastern Washington) and the grain crops for horses (oats,barley, corn etc) are feeling the biofuel squeeze.

[eversearching]

I also wonder if cost of production were considered, how that affects the comparison?

Not necessarily that consumers always experience the cost of production directly, of course.