Why is no one whining about gas prices anymore?

[OverVolt]

There's no changing it...It's going to continue to go up an up and up...

Ikr but then why is every other car on the highway a SUV.

 

[SparkyJJO]

it cost me about 55 bucks a week to keep my camry gassed up. I cant fathom how people who drive pickups as a daily commuter can afford it or not cry when they drop 80-100 bucks a week in gas or diesel

I drove an 18mpg vehicle about 30k miles last year. But most of those were for work, and the mileage reimbursement paid for all my gas + insurance + oil changes, so in the grand scheme of things it didn't really bother me too horribly much (though I still griped about it).

Now with my new job I fill the tank once a week at most, which is about a $45-55 fill-up from 1/4 tank depending on the price.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
Where was I for this?

I figured that you were since I haven't seen you post in a while.

I see that you've been posting in P&N lately...I haven't been there in a while so that explains it.

Well there is a gas thread there.

I'll sum up for you.

We have more oil than in over 40 years. Literally swimming in it and oil tanks and barges full everywhere.

The oil thugs are producing more gasoline than ever before and exporting more gasoline out of the U.S. than ever before.

All this while charging Americans up the ass for gasoline so that people in South America can drive for 25 cents a gallon.

Americans seem to be OK with paying for others to drive cheap so this will not stop anytime soon.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Its China's fault. They are competing for oil that we pretty much enjoyed all to ourselves. Otherwise gas would still be .99 a gallon.

Now that GM / Ford / Etc are selling millions of cars over there, those cars need....gas/oil and lots of it. In the past, China was happy with just public transport, 10-speeds, rickshaws or plain old walking.

 

[dmcowen674]

Its China's fault. They are competing for oil that we pretty much enjoyed all to ourselves. Otherwise gas would still be .99 a gallon.

You haven't paid any attention that we have more oil than in over 40 years have you?

It's being stored in tanks and barges everywhere because it is overflowing.

 

[dmcowen674]

Current gas prices are apparently because of domestic supply issues.

Not true.

They are exporting more gasoline out of the U.S. than ever before.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by SunnyD
Current gas prices are apparently because of domestic supply issues.

Don't we have tons of supply but it's being shipped outside of the USA?

YES!

You get a Gold Star :thumbsup:

 

[FelixDeCat]

You haven't paid any attention that we have more oil than in over 40 years have you?

It's being stored in tanks and barges everywhere because it is overflowing.

The Chinese are using more fuel. Those idiot traders at Citibank were among the first to realize this and bid up Oil Futures Contracts back in 2008 to $150 a barrel from just $40. People were freaking out...I know, I was there.

Now that Citibank has defined the new 'norm' of $100 a barrel out to the year 2017+ from rolling futures contracts due to China, the oceans could be made of oil and it wont matter.

What needs to happen is that someone with billions of dollars needs to short oil and take down the price, which will cause panic selling of futures contracts and a new "norm" of $40 again.

It also would help if GM/Ford stopped selling tens of millions of new gas guzzlers in China, further eroding the base of people willing to pay $100 per barrel. But I doubt the engine of greed would ever slow down in the interest of cheap gas for America.

Edit: I just found the CNBC video from 2008. It was interesting in that they asked what it would be like "6 years from now" in 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1v-a1jJ6Hw

 

[brainhulk]

Not true.

They are exporting more gasoline out of the U.S. than ever before.

I read somewhere we were exploring the release of our emergency reserve of oil to drop oil prices. This is to bring the Russian economy to it's knees. I perceived it as only a threat as it will anger our oil producing neighbors also

 

[tortillasoup]

The Chinese are using more fuel. Those idiot traders at Citibank were among the first to realize this and bid up Oil Futures Contracts back in 2008 to $150 a barrel from just $40. People were freaking out...I know, I was there.

Now that Citibank has defined the new 'norm' of $100 a barrel out to the year 2017+ from rolling futures contracts due to China, the oceans could be made of oil and it wont matter.

What needs to happen is that someone with billions of dollars needs to short oil and take down the price, which will cause panic selling of futures contracts and a new "norm" of $40 again.

It also would help if GM/Ford stopped selling tens of millions of new gas guzzlers in China, further eroding the base of people willing to pay $100 per barrel. But I doubt the engine of greed would ever slow down in the interest of cheap gas for America.

Edit: I just found the CNBC video from 2008. It was interesting in that they asked what it would be like "6 years from now" in 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1v-a1jJ6Hw

What you don't seem to understand is that a lot of the oil supply on the market today can only be on the market if the price of oil stays above $70 a barrel. The only way to drive down the price of oil is to drive down demand to the point where despite the less supply, the supply that CAN be supported @ $20-$40 a barrel will be more than sufficient to meet the world's needs. Why do you think the price of oil collapsed in early '09? It's because they thought the world was entering into a major depression hence the reason the stock market went along with it.

The price of oil doesn't need to drop, what needs to change is people's insatiable thirst for not only a limited resource, but a bad one at that.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Not quite sure why cows are being compared to oil production, but they do have the added benefit of producing methane gas too, all we have to do is bottle it, which is an untapped resource....bonus, if you will.

 

[Kaido]

People born into something take it as normal.

I think it just boils down to economics. Even is gas is $10 a gallon, I still have to get to work. Unless I start a one-man crusade against gas prices, nothing is going to change. Even if I do devote my life to getting people rallied up to stabilize gas prices, ultimately all I've done is save a few dollars a trip. Save the whales, stop corrupt politicians, recycle water bottles, get GMO's labeled, there's endless good causes to join if you want to make that your life. Or you can just take the hit & stay focused on more important things to you in your life.

 

[rh71]

$85+ for premium I expect for my SUV, but when it goes to $70, for regular, for my wife's sedan - that's a bit much. I still remember when it took only $30 to fill a tank.

 

[bigi]

Meh. Gas should really be $15 a gallon, but is heavily subsidized.

 

[rh71]

Meh. Gas should really be $15 a gallon, but is heavily subsidized.

It certainly isn't supported by a healthy / efficient mass transport system even just outside the cities. Want people to stop driving, do better mass transit. Not for me, I mean for everyone else.

The biggest hindrance, much like other things like high speed broadband, is the size of our land. I'm in a densely populated county with 1.3mil other people and it still takes me 15+ minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop.

 

[SheHateMe]

I'm driving my moms 2013 Corolla right now. I filled it up for $25 the other day. It seemed reasonable to me. I'm not old enough to remember a gallon of gas costing $1 in the early 90s.

 

[edro]

Everyone is suffering from affluenza these days

...an awesome book.

 

[MiniDoom]

I'm driving my moms 2013 Corolla right now. I filled it up for $25 the other day. It seemed reasonable to me. I'm not old enough to remember a gallon of gas costing $1 in the early 90s.

it was like .75/g in 1997-98.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

it was like .75/g in 1997-98.

I don't remember it being that cheap in '97 here in CA. I think it was around $1.25/gal. when I first started driving in '94. This morning it was $4.09/gal. Pretty much shit my pants because I drive a new corolla and haven't filled up since the monday before last. I think it was $3.49/gal.

 

[Train]

15 year Trend:

1 Year:

 

[Insomniator]

Gas just isn't that bad really. Most new cars get at least 25 mpg. Couple hundred bucks a month for even the longest commuters.

I commuted 100 miles a day for 5 years with the last 2 being in a car that took premium gas... I never complained about it because it wasn't like I had to choose between gas or food. Now I commute 6 miles a day so I REALLY don't complain about it

How do current gas prices compare with inflation? When was the last year they were really low? I don't remember anymore... was it really $1 a gallon in 15 years ago? Its not like $3.50 (in nj) is the end of the world.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Gas just isn't that bad really. Most new cars get at least 25 mpg. Couple hundred bucks a month for even the longest commuters.

I commuted 100 miles a day for 5 years with the last 2 being in a car that took premium gas... I never complained about it because it wasn't like I had to choose between gas or food. Now I commute 6 miles a day so I REALLY don't complain about it

How do current gas prices compare with inflation? When was the last year they were really low? I don't remember anymore... was it really $1 a gallon in 15 years ago? Its not like $3.50 (in nj) is the end of the world.

It costs me about $30 once a week to keep my car full of gas, so it's no problem at all for me. I can see how people who do a lot of traveling can have a problem with it though. If you have to fill your car up every 2-3 days and it costs $70-$100 to do that, it's going to eat into your fun money a bit.

 

[Eug]

Aren't the batteries rated for 7-10 years though? My co-worker has an 0G Prius and the batteries are still at 91% peak capacity. That car has to be at least 15 years old now.

My batteries seem fine for my 2004 Prius but I haven't had it specifically checked by the dealer. Maybe I'll ask them the next time I take in the car. To my surprise though we checked my regular 12 V battery and it still is fine. I was expecting to have to have replaced that years ago. I've even started several regular cars with that 12 V battery, but I'm told that is a no-no, since the Prius 12 V battery is of lower capacity.

However, I need to take the car in soon because it's making a rattling noise during acceleration. Something must be loose. If it's an easy fix they I hope to keep the car for another several years, maybe until my mortgage is up. I also wonder about the shocks and struts. It isn't bouncing or anything, but 10 years is a long time.

Anyhoo, when I do get another car, I will consider a hybrid again partially due to gas prices. However, that wasn't the reason why I did when I got my first Prius in 2001, and then my second one in 2004. Gas prices weren't that big of an issue back then. I just thought the cars were interesting, and of course I got some really nice tax rebates on them.

P.S. I in fact got one tax rebate on my 2004 twice. The law stated rebates are valid for hybrid leases and hybrid purchases. Well, I leased the hybrid and collected the rebate. When the lease was up, I bought out the car, and applied for the rebate again. They initially denied me, but I pointed out to the government that nowhere in the application did it say it had to be a different car, so they grudgingly agreed to give me the rebate again. I think they changed the rules after that, and then just cancelled the program altogether shortly after that. The point though is that the rebates I got basically cancelled out the ballpark price premium I paid to get a hybrid, and given recent gas prices, overall I I've likely come out in the green in terms of cost, despite all the predictions back then that hybrid cars weren't worth it.

BTW, to put the operating costs in perspective, it costs me less to run my Prius (mid-size) than it does to run my wife's Yaris (sub-compact).

 

[HumblePie]

In fairness, Telsa does market their cars as being cheaper to operate. Which they are. Until the batteries go.
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_CA/goelectric

Electric has a long way to go before obtaining mass market appeal. They have a high up front cost and lower range than gasoline cars, and take a long time to refuel. Whoever makes the first EV that can drive 300mi on a single charge, takes minutes to recharge, and can be sold for the same price as a base Honda Civic, they'll be a billionaire.

The problem with petroleum is it just happens to be a perfect fuel. Gasoline, diesel, and kerosene have a high energy density, are light weight, and stable. The best Lithium-Ion batteries maybe hold 0.95 megajoules of energy per kilogram. Petroleum bi-products hold 40-46MJ/kg. Which is why smaller EVs have such limited range.

Well, when it comes to efficiency for that energy, fuels are way worse the electric. That 40+ MJ of energy per kilogram are mostly wasted in a car.

 

[Leyawiin]

I don't drive that much and my car is basically a "garage queen". It'll be three years old next month and has less than 14,000 miles on it. If I had to commute a long distance I would be concerned.