Got Gas? U.S. Economy to Worsen as Gas Prices Skyrocket

[Doppel]

What's sad is that few low-cost hybrids are available. I searched Edmunds and found:

http://www.edmunds.com/finder/car-finder-results.html?finder_q=type:Hybrid;type:Electric;price:$15k%20to%20$25k;

Honda Insight Hatchback ($18,350)
Honda CR-Z Hatchback ($19,545)
Toyota Prius C ($18,950 -- maybe)

Where are the American-made hybrids? No where to be seen in the under $25,000 category other than a listing for a "Ford C-Max Wagon" which doesn't seem to be on the market yet.

Come on Honda, make a hybrid Honda Fit, and make a hybrid that competes with the Prius for mpg.

They can't. Honda has no idea how to make a good hybrid now (CR-Z is a two seater that's slow and guzzles gas relatively speaking and the Insight is running similar MPG as the first gen Prius).

Who cares about American made? Toyota makes a ton of vehicles in the US anyway, just like Ford makes a whole bunch out of country.

 

[desy]

Of course they aren't cheap think about it, you have to build TWO powertrains
If you could build a electric w good batteries thats the ticket

 

[Ninjahedge]

WS, the things that have been keeping me from Hybrids are simple. They suck.

Tiny little econo-boxes (for the most part) with a good $5K premium attached.

At LEAST, with the last $4+ gas phase we went through, car makers started making some SUV's and other non-granola models. Still, too little for too much.

I am still waiting for an increased range electric with a small generator or something for things like AC and other accessories. Last thing I need is a car that goes 20 miles less because I am listening to the radio loud.

 

[bryanW1995]

Don't know particulars, but I do know that there is research going on right now for batteries ( they call them capacitors but it sounds like a battery to me) that will go 300-400 miles on a charge. Something like that would be truly revolutionary.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Capacitors would be better, if they could work them out.

Electrical energy would not be stored chemically and would take less time to charge.

The difficult thing would be, capacitors could also be very dangerous (you know how they say do not touch your TV/Stereo even after you have unplugged it? You could get a nasty zap from the charge still in the capacitors.

Although they do lose charge over time, there are a few problems that still need to be addressed before they get it right.

But 400 miles on a charge that could take as much time to recharge as fill up at a gas station would be incredible.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

The average price of gas is continuing to rise. Will it level off after it passers $4/gallon? According to Gas Buddy it's currently between $3.45 and $3.60 in my area, which tends to have lower than average gas prices.

 

[RedString]

wow, just realized this is 124 pages long. No point replying to such an early post.

edit: I'll just add, It's funny that some of you are actually encouraging the increase. It's not like if the economy goes bad your slightly higher investment returns will be offset or anything like that...

 

[dmcowen674]

I bolded the word average for the reading challenged in here:


Gasoline prices hit record high in Chicago area: $4.51 a gallon

This is a record we didn’t want to top. Nonetheless, gasoline prices in the Chicago area shot up to their highest level ever recorded by AAA Monday.

The average price of unleaded regular gas in the Chicago metropolitan area was $4.51 a gallon, surpassing by 4 cents the high of $4.47 reached in May 2011, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.

In the city of Chicago, the price hit $4.67 a gallon, up a penny from the $4.66 high that also was reached last May.

This is a record we didn’t want to top. Nonetheless, gasoline prices in the Chicago area shot up to their highest level ever recorded by AAA Monday.

The average price of unleaded regular gas in the Chicago metropolitan area was $4.51 a gallon, surpassing by 4 cents the high of $4.47 reached in May 2011, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.

In the city of Chicago, the price hit $4.67 a gallon, up a penny from the $4.66 high that also was reached last May.

 

[dmcowen674]

Check this bullshit out.

They are so full of Ethanol they don't have anywhere to store it and closing Ethanol plants.

3-27-2012

Ethanol stock over flowing

Surging global energy prices amid sanctions against major oil producer Iran have underpinned gas prices even as they crimped fuel demand from drivers, with demand for gasoline in the United States over the past four weeks down nearly 8 percent from a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Administration.

The drop in demand for gas has helped push up ethanol stocks to a record high last week of 22.7 million barrels as the U.S. government mandates that each gallon of gasoline in the country can contain only 10 percent ethanol.

"Even though we have the incentive to blend, we can't blend much more -- we're up against the blend wall," said Jerrod Kitt, analyst at the Linn Group in Chicago.

Archer Daniels Midland (NYS:ADM - News) shuttered a plant in North Dakota in February while Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Inc (OBB:AVRW.OB - News) earlier this month said it will temporarily shut down its Mount Vernon, Indiana, plant until margins are more attractive.

"We have seen some plants slow down in our direct area," said Chuck Woodside, chief executive officer at KAAPA Ethanol in Nebraska and chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association. "We're blending out everything to 10 percent. We need exports to balance out or gasoline to pick up."

Julie Ward, analyst at R.J. O'Brien, added: "We need to get into a driving season and we need to get the economy rolling, so we use more gas. There's not significantly more ethanol that we can blend, we're at the blend wall. We just need to work through the stocks."

 

[Generator]

At $5 there will be war, at $6 the United States would enter the event horizon where hellspawn would eviscerate society as we know it. Imagine Mister Rogers show, except its hosted by Elmo Blatch.

 

[dmcowen674]

At $5 there will be war

War with who?

Just about at $5 at many stations downtown Chicago now.

Chicago PD did riot drills, is that what you mean?

 

[nonlnear]

War with who?

Just about at $5 at many stations downtown Chicago now.

Chicago PD did riot drills, is that what you mean?

Whoosh! (unsurprisingly, given that it's dmc)

 

[SkullWalker]

First of all, many capacitors are electrolytic capacitors, which means that they still use chemicals for the energy storage. But they work in a different way than batteries.

Second of all, the prices will only go up and even faster. The reason is simple - the demand for oil is increasing every day, mainly because many Asian countries like China or India are experiencing big economy booms so they are becoming VERY energy hungry. And since we have reached peak oil like ten years ago the price will go exponentially higher. But oil is not the only finite material we are very dependable on, so the question shouldn't be WHEN will oil run out but WHICH resource will run out first. Our modern technologies are dependable on many distinguished materials, so we need either to properly recycle or find good substitutes. Either way (and I don't want to be pessimistic) we will need to vastly adjust our way of life...unfortunately in a bad way.

 

[Ninjahedge]

It would be better to make sure we still had a reserve for our polymers and plastics rather than burn it all away...

And Skull, I know what you are saying, but it is not "chemical" in the same way, as you put it. You do not get a reaction that separates the components, yadda yadda yadda....

 

[SkullWalker]

It would be better to make sure we still had a reserve for our polymers and plastics rather than burn it all away...

EXACTLY!! And do not forget the much needed pesticides.

 

[dmcowen674]

American want President Romney to fix gas prices

3-27-2012

Americans angry with Obama over gas prices

More than two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling high gasoline prices

Sixty-eight percent disapprove and 24 percent approve of how Obama is responding to price increases that have become one of the biggest issues in the 2012 presidential campaign.

The disapproval reaches across party lines, potentially spelling trouble for Obama in the election

 

[EagleKeeper]

Went into DC this weekend - that was a shock - nothing below $4.19
Last time I saw number slke that was in CA back in '08

Yet 10 miles away in Md, fuel for regular was under $3.90

Outside Philly, I topped off my tank at $3.749

 

[EagleKeeper]

American want President Romney to fix gas prices

3-27-2012

Americans angry with Obama over gas prices

More than two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Barack Obama is handling high gasoline prices

Sixty-eight percent disapprove and 24 percent approve of how Obama is responding to price increases that have become one of the biggest issues in the 2012 presidential campaign.

The disapproval reaches across party lines, potentially spelling trouble for Obama in the election

Not much he can really do; but doing nothing re-enforces the negative perception.
Speculation can be shut down on US exchanges and very possibly pressure can be put on other commodity exchanges to reduce the speculation churning.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Went into DC this weekend - that was a shock - nothing below $4.19
Last time I saw number slke that was in CA back in '08

Yet 10 miles away in Md, fuel for regular was under $3.90

Outside Philly, I topped off my tank at $3.749

NJ, route 17 north near Teterboro Airport. $3.59/gal regular cash. Last week.

People saying that Obama is handling gas prices wrong are idiots. Until the price structure is more controlled by our own government, the best he can do is offer "incentives". What Wall street et all. do with those "incentives" is up to them.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

People saying that Obama is handling gas prices wrong are idiots. Until the price structure is more controlled by our own government, the best he can do is offer "incentives". What Wall street et all. do with those "incentives" is up to them.

Be sure to mark today on the calendar, I agree with you on this issue.

 

[heymrdj]

Hitting 4.17 in the north side of Fort Wayne. I went down to the Southside where it's still 3.72 for some odd reason. I figure that will no longer be the case by the end of today.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Went into DC this weekend - that was a shock - nothing below $4.19
Last time I saw number slke that was in CA back in '08

Yet 10 miles away in Md, fuel for regular was under $3.90

Outside Philly, I topped off my tank at $3.749

NJ, route 17 north near Teterboro Airport. $3.59/gal regular cash. Last week.

People saying that Obama is handling gas prices wrong are idiots. Until the price structure is more controlled by our own government, the best he can do is offer "incentives". What Wall street et all. do with those "incentives" is up to them.

I can jump the river from Bristol to US130 and save $0.20-$0.25 per gallon.

However, I need an empty tank to then justify it - $2 toll to get back or a 20 mile haul up to Trenton and back down

 

[dmcowen674]

Clearly the Oil Minister is lying

3-28-2012

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9e1ccb48-781c-11e1-b237-00144feab49a.html#axzz1qRFfm25P

Saudi Arabia will act to bring down high oil prices


By Ali Naimi

Ali Naimi is minister of petroleum and mineral resources in Saudi Arabia

For the record, as things stand today, our inventories in Saudi Arabia and around the world are full. Our Rotterdam inventory is full, our Sidi Kerir facility is full, our Okinawa facility is full – 100 per cent full.

So the story is one of plenty. Supply is not the problem, and it has not been a problem in the recent past. There is no rational reason why oil prices are continuing to remain at these high levels.

We want to correct the myth that there is, or could be, a shortage. It is an irrational fear, a fear without basis.

Fundamentally the market remains balanced. It is the perceived potential shortage of oil keeping prices high – not the reality on the ground. There is no lack of supply. There is no demand which cannot be met.

The bottom line is that Saudi Arabia would like to see a lower price. It would like to see a fair and reasonable price that will not hurt the global economic recovery

 

[werepossum]

The Saudi Oil Minister saying he doesn't want oil prices to be this high strikes me as quite analogous to Brer Rabbit saying he doesn't want to be thrown into the brier patch.

 

[EagleKeeper]

High prices can cripple economies. High prices popped a bubble in 08. Better to have a steady rate at 75%of peak that cycle that can get below 40%. Planning is easier.