nickel

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060705/..._ge/oil_prices

are you doing anything to conserve gas? the article claims "demand continues to rise despite soaring pices."

i am car pooling more. i am thinking my errands out so i can complete a few instead of one per trip.
my mother and i call when we are going to the store to ask if we can save the other a trip and pick something up we might need.

but yet... i am not giving a second thought to leisure time. if i want to go somewhere for a vacation, a party, or canoeing, etc., i just go.

anyone see themselves driving one of these Smart Cars?

Chyrsler is going to market them in the U.S. soon. they get like 40 mpg.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...ml?source=mypi

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MikeD

I don't use much gas, so to answer your question: no, I'm not doing much to conserve. Then again, I don't use much either.

If I was using more (i.e., longer commute, bigger engine), then I'd probably implement some conservation steps.

$75 a barrel to convince the American public to change its ways? That's laughable...it will take much, much higher prices before that will happen.

Frankly, I'm surprised it's stayed under $3/gallon near my house. I thought we'd be closer to $4 by now.

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zero2dash

There's not much a lot of people can do; you either pay or you don't go anywhere, and either way you're screwed.

I basically drive straight to work and straight home afterwards. If I have shopping to do, I usually do it on the way home. (Luckily I work probably 4 miles from my home, so it's not a huge burden on my gas tank.)

Cars like that won't do much for anyone either because we're still relying on gasoline. Many cars nowadays (including mine) average 30-35mpg city/highway, so adding another 10 won't do much. IMO we're in a catch-22 here with fuel prices and the auto industry (and our government which has its hands in "big oil's pockets").

Seems like the auto industry is trying to come up with alternative methods, but they're having a hard time doing so, probably because the oil companies are throwing money their way saying "take a long time, let the public rely on our fuel instead". Then you also have the reluctance to see these alternative fuels at filling stations (ie here in St. Louis, I know of only a handful of stations that have E-85 and I can count them on one hand).

Until we start either a) relying on less (which won't happen under the current conditions and the current automotive market, with the current people "in power" in the government) or b) drilling in our own country - I think we're pretty much in a stalemate with no end in sight. It's really f'n ridiculous but...what can you do?

All I know is the next vehicle I purchase may be a diesel Ram.

Cubsfan

I work about a mile from my house, so while I should ride my bike, I'm also not using much gas.

Gas isn't THAT bad around here. I just paid $2.65 in Wyoming this weekend.

zippyjuan

Colorado is usually forty cents a gallon less than San Diego. The prices have not gone up enough to get people to make any serious changes in their habits. They are complaining but not doing much different yet. Using a card to pay also deflects the impact of price- they don't pay attention to the numbers, just swipt the card and go. You complain when you see the bill at the end of the month but don't make the connection to where it happened. If you had to pay cash each time, you would be more aware of how much it costs you. I measure my usage in miles per gallon- of sweat on my bicycle instead of a car.

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LegendKiller

That's actually quite incorrect. Average is ~22mpg. For most people, getting 40+ in a Smart would automatically half their costs. Figure SUVs in that equation and a shift (SUVs go to light suv or sedans, sedans go to smaller or hybrid, hybrid or others go to smart) upwards in the spectrum, you could easily see average mpg hitting 30+, that would translate into huge shifts in demand since the distribution is hugely skewed.

If every American drove a 40+mpg car, we'd cut our fuel needs by ~33%, which is massive when considering we consume something like 11 billion barrels a year, cutting that down to 7.26bbl is massive and would cause a huge shift in the oil markets. Probably a 20% decline.

Not to mention that if the political situation gets calmer would would see a large decrease due to reduced risk.

brainsmile

yeah... I'd say that the average car gets <25 MPG simply cause everyone drives like idiots

But with that said I would love to have a hybrid but I'm still not driving enough to warrant the higher cost even with the tax break.

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surfer

I ride my bike to work and if I only need a few things I pick them up on the way home.

Luc13n

A friend was tellin me there is a mod that some folks with hybrids can do. They have to install bigger batteries, but they can tweek out 60+ miles per gallon. It was mentioned that Honda and Toyota could sell them like this but they would increase the cost of the cars $5k. With the hybrid rebate, it may be more fesible to save money and gas.

MikeD

Well, it may halve their fuel costs. What about maintenance costs, though? Are hybrids more expensive to maintain / repair than your average Ford / GM sedan?

Just wondering, playing devil's advocate.

speedracer120

I actually read somewhere that in the US the hybrid setting have been adjusted from the rest of the world to ensure longer battery life for some warranty reasons whereas in Europe and Asia they rely more on the batteries and less on the gasoline at the lower speeds.

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clutchy

i want a civic gx...

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LegendKiller

The savings are multiplicative. Not only do you use half as much, but in cutting that down by half you are also reducing the price, so your fuel costs may be 30% of what they were before. Add in the social benefits and that number becomes huge.

The key there is, don't buy a piece of crap. If Ford/GM can't cut it, buy a "foreign" car.

MikeD

The maintenance costs are still are unknown. And we're still assuming that us (i.e., the United States) using less will cause these dramatic effects on prices. While it will help, you have to factor in the rising demand in other parts of the world (China, India, etc.).

I'm not saying we shouldn't pay attention to our consumption levels or "do the right thing" environmentally speaking. I agree 100% with the social aspect argument.

I am saying we should be realistic about oil, long term. We can mitigate the problem, but should be realistic about what we can expect our neighbor to do, and what the rest of the world will do / need as well.

LegendKiller

We consume 20 million barrels per day, China, the next closest, consumes 6.3 million, Japan at 5.5, and then Russia at 2.8. If we dropped down to, say, 12 billion, that would be cutting *ALL* of china out of the equation plus almost half of Japan. That impact on world supply would be *MASSIVE*. You are literally doubling the supply to the next largest user and then increasing, by 50%, Japans availible.


http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/en...il-consumption


Repair costs aren't too bad from what my boss says.

MikeD

Fair enough.

Nice chart. Where is Niue, and what are they wasting 20 barrels a day on?

BigJon

Already getting $3.05 here for regular...about the highest we've seen here in Ohio.

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