$5 Gas around the corner...

[Born2bwire]

I don't think that's unreasonable. If gas is $4.80 a gallon, that's close enough to $5. Only pedants make a big deal over that 20¢. You couldn't buy a gallon of gas with the rounded change left over.

But we don't buy gas at a gallon at a time. I have a mid-size sedan and I fill up 15 gallons at the pump. If you've got a pick-up then we can be talking about twice as much. So now we're talking about a couple of bucks or more depending on how loose we round.

 

[Fausto]

Knowing her, I doubt that.

Assuming she can correctly add small sums is giving her entirely too much credit.

 

[lxskllr]

But we don't buy gas at a gallon at a time. I have a mid-size sedan and I fill up 15 gallons at the pump. If you've got a pick-up then we can be talking about twice as much. So now we're talking about a couple of bucks or more depending on how loose we round.

That's what I said. Who cares about a couple of bucks when you're dumping $60+ in the tank. As gas prices go up, useful rounding can get sloppier. 5¢ made a difference when gas was 80¢/G. At ~$5/G, 50¢ increments are more relevant.

 

[Fausto]

I have this fantasy where gas finally hits a price that causes a sea change in how people get around and suddenly the roads are filled with bikes, obesity rates plummet, and our summer smog days are a thing of the past.

But, humans being the lazy bitches that they are, we just complain EVEN MORE and continue to pay whatever price happens to be set that day.

 

[Born2bwire]

That's what I said. Who cares about a couple of bucks when you're dumping $60+ in the tank. As gas prices go up, useful rounding can get sloppier. 5¢ made a difference when gas was 80¢/G. At ~$5/G, 50¢ increments are more relevant.

Then why even talk about gas going up 30 cents over a few weeks? If we're going to be complaining about gas prices we are are obviously caring about these kinds of things.

 

[lxskllr]

Then why even talk about gas going up 30 cents over a few weeks? If we're going to be complaining about gas prices we are are obviously caring about these kinds of things.

The 30¢ doesn't matter on its own. It's the greater trend that's worrisome, and the final cap it reaches. Also, it sets a new standard for "good prices", and people will tolerate a higher price when it finally goes down. It wasn't that long ago when $3/G was outrageous, and now most here would love to get gas that cheap.

 

[bruceb]

Just paid $3.459 for Exxon 87 octane this morning here in Wayne, NJ .. highway robbery, as the cost to the gas station and refiners has not yet caught up with the actual price per barrel of crude. They like to raise the price, even though the cost to them has not yet gone up. In NJ on the turnpike and possibly the Garden State Pkwy, they can only raise the price one time per week. This should become a state law for all the stations.

 

[dr150]

High gas prices means, I'll just have to buy those stupid 5 toe running shoes that everyone is talking about in the other thread to get to work.

 

[ultimatebob]

How expensive does gas have to get before buying an Electric car becomes a good idea? Last I heard, the break even point was still around $8 a gallon unless you live an an area where electricity was really expensive... then it's even more.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would not mind $5/gal. Not that much cheaper than now, but still about 10 cents cheaper.

 

[Fritzo]

I find this strange since gas usage is at its lowest level since 2001.

 

[AstroManLuca]

How expensive does gas have to get before buying an Electric car becomes a good idea? Last I heard, the break even point was still around $8 a gallon unless you live an an area where electricity was really expensive... then it's even more.

And that's only assuming an electric car actually makes sense for you. They're range-limited so if you want to do more than commute with it in a given day, you're probably out of luck. Their range gets even worse when you have to run accessories like the AC (necessary to defrost your windows or stay cool in summer) or heating (necessary throughout winter). The break-even point gets even higher when you take into account used car prices, since you can easily pick up a good used car for just a few thousand bucks but there are no used electric cars on the market.

Hybrids usually aren't worth it either... the cost might not be as high and the practicality is there, but the MPG gain isn't that dramatic.

 

[darkxshade]

Hedge with energy stocks.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Sucks for the majority. Thankfully I walk and bike.

I use ~2.5 tanks a month. So it'll be an extra ~$50/month, $600/year - no biggie.
Hell, I'm used to paying 4x more for gas anyway

 

[Born2bwire]

I use ~2.5 tanks a month. So it'll be an extra ~$50/month, $600/year - no biggie.
Hell, I'm used to paying 4x more for gas anyway

Yeah, that certainly helps to put things into perspective. I don't really see the benefits of the cheap gas here since I still use public transit for most of my transportation.

 

[bruceb]

I will not buy an electric car at this point in time. They are very costly, around $40K or so and they need a special outlet installed at your home for the charging. Plus, so far, there are not too many on the road charging locations. And when the battery pack needs replacement, it is very expensive. They are supposed a long time and have a good warranty (from some makers), but still costly. Also mechanics need special training to work on these cars, so as not to get hit with the high dc voltages. A DIYer can easily make a mistake and get injured.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Yeah, that certainly helps to put things into perspective. I don't really see the benefits of the cheap gas here since I still use public transit for most of my transportation.

Well, I used to pay ~RM11.35/gallon for RON97 (91OCT) gas.
Comparing on a RM1-to-US$1 income basis, gas here is still cheap.

 

[airdata]

They've gone up about 30 cents here in the last six weeks or so.

around here it's gone up ~60 cents. We were at 2.90 maybe 6 weeks ago. Now it's 3.50

 

[FoBoT]

I find this strange since gas usage is at its lowest level since 2001.

if by 'strange', you mean completely expected, then i agree

 

[Born2bwire]

Well, I used to pay ~RM11.35/gallon for RON97 (91OCT) gas.
Comparing on a RM1-to-US$1 income basis, gas here is still cheap.

It was around $8USD/Gal back in Hong Kong. Of course, if we are really hurting for gas we could all just move to Venezuala.

 

[LTC8K6]

And I can find stations in the US that are over $6 a gallon. What we want to look at is the gas prices being seen by a reasonable number of people. We can look at US average, state average, or regional average. But it's getting facetious to start picking out single stations and say, "Look, at State and Jackson I pay $5.05 which means that everyone in Chicago is getting shafted despite the fact that at State and Ohio I could pay $4.89." At that point, the difference in price isn't because of difference in the price of oil, transportation, taxes, wages, or cost of living. It's just purely the premium that can be charged that people will still go there and pay out of personal convenience. The whole point is how far do we allow things to get bent before we dismiss them.

I don't think that saying when gas is $4.51 that it's $5 gas. That's around $6-$7 difference at fill-up. And I don't think we can just sit here and cherry pick to find the prices that we want. Why can't I say that since there is a station that's $4.35 at its highest and thus we can still find gas under $5 that we never hit $5 even if it was the only station in town to be under $5?

What he actually posted was perfectly reasonable, and likely correct.

It hit ~$5 in some places 3 years ago and was even around $5 here in Chicago last year.

You are the one who decided that he meant "average". When I check the chart you listed, for my area, it doesn't go as high as I paid, either. It's quite a bit low. Why? Because you and I don't pay the average price, we pay the price on the pump.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Gas is already over $4/gallon for premium around here.

 

[Pardus]

 

[BurnItDwn]

And I can find stations in the US that are over $6 a gallon. What we want to look at is the gas prices being seen by a reasonable number of people. We can look at US average, state average, or regional average. But it's getting facetious to start picking out single stations and say, "Look, at State and Jackson I pay $5.05 which means that everyone in Chicago is getting shafted despite the fact that at State and Ohio I could pay $4.89." At that point, the difference in price isn't because of difference in the price of oil, transportation, taxes, wages, or cost of living. It's just purely the premium that can be charged that people will still go there and pay out of personal convenience. The whole point is how far do we allow things to get bent before we dismiss them.

I don't think that saying when gas is $4.51 that it's $5 gas. That's around $6-$7 difference at fill-up. And I don't think we can just sit here and cherry pick to find the prices that we want. Why can't I say that since there is a station that's $4.35 at its highest and thus we can still find gas under $5 that we never hit $5 even if it was the only station in town to be under $5?

The averages take into account the parts of town where prices are less as well as the parts where prices are more ...

In the suburbs of Chicago, gas is usually about 20-40 cents per gallon less than within Chicago city proper (depending upon which county/city you're in. Usually the farther out you get, the cheaper it gets) Then, depending upon which part of the city you're in .... the rates also vary to some degree... (to make up for expensive real estate costs for instance, or to make up for security costs or some other factor.)

If the average was $4.50 in the city of Chicago, then the suburban average was probably about $4.25 or so.... but the rest of the state would have been a bit less.
A good percentage of the gas stations in the city would have been even more (especially in super dense city center "Chicago loop" area where everything costs a lot.)


So, even if gas was $5+ at only 3 or 4 stations, it could have been 3 or 4 of the busiest stations...

When you complain about how high the price of something gets, you don't take an average or median, you take the worst examples of what you've seen in person ...

 

[AstroManLuca]

I will not buy an electric car at this point in time. They are very costly, around $40K or so and they need a special outlet installed at your home for the charging. Plus, so far, there are not too many on the road charging locations. And when the battery pack needs replacement, it is very expensive. They are supposed a long time and have a good warranty (from some makers), but still costly. Also mechanics need special training to work on these cars, so as not to get hit with the high dc voltages. A DIYer can easily make a mistake and get injured.

The Nissan Leaf can be had for $28-30k if you take tax credits into account. But it's still a bit more expensive than the similarly sized Prius ($24-29k) and it lacks some of the convenience you get with a hybrid... such as being able to drive more than ~70 miles without having to plug it in for hours to get it juiced back up.