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gas at $20/gallon

woodsguy

gets infinity MPG
Mar 18, 2007
1,083
1
Sutton, MA
No driving habit changes and the temps have stayed between 30 and 40 for the most part. I'm seeing about 2mpg better from both of our cars.
Are you sure you aren't driving differently? I've done several tests in various cars and they all had the same result. For every mph over 60 the mileage drops about 1mpg. I just did a trip from NYC to Boston in my wife's Mini and averaged 47mpg by simply going the speed limit (it was 49mpg for the first half when the speed limit was 55. The second half's 65mph SL brought it down). My wife typically averages about 72mph and gets 37-38mpg.
 

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,002
7,886
Colorado
I'm trying... It's the 30mph head winds and 30* temps that are making it difficult.
 

Bedlam

Monkey
Feb 13, 2010
240
0
Under ground
Yeah, so I passed a gas station with a new all time high yesterday, would translate to 8.74$/gallon.. Welcome to Sweden, peeps!
..Oh, and that would be considered cheap compared to Norway. Any of you guys going to the WC in Hafjell this summer and renting cars to get from the airport?
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
^^^That's pretty much what my wife's threshold is as well, below that and any riding is limited to the bar and back. She does have a 25 mile R/T commute, though...

We handed out free coffee on one of the popular bike paths a couple weeks ago, and saw probably ~100 riders out commuting between 7:30am and 8:30am. It had snowed the night before, though, apparently other events that week drew quite a few more people.

 

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,740
8,744
Saw $3.79 for regular today... That's literally up ~$0.50/gallon in the past week and a half or so. Apparently our city is getting shafted beyond what's happening to the rest of the state.
$5.19 for premium at the always-higher-than-everyone-else stations by the hospital. My wife paid $4.09 for regular the other day at a normal/non-gouging station. Our fuel oil bill reflects these pricing trends, too...
 
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KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Between $3.79 and $3.89 for Regular on average here in Phoenix.
Saw $4 for Regular in Scottsdale.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,702
6,109
in a single wide, cooking meth...
I'm very perplexed as to why fuel is so much cheaper around here... :confused:
I would speculate that there are several factors involved. As Pesqueeb pointed out, in touristy areas that have you by the short hairs in terms of competition, it will most certainly be higher. And I'm sure it costs more (logistically speaking) to actually get the fuel to a station in Vail or other semi-remote locales. However, I think a lot of differences can be accounted for in the State's respective gas taxes. Here in Nor'Cack, they have made it a policy to hog fukc you at the pump to keep other taxes relatively low. I think it has traction with a lot of politicians as they see it as a tax on a "vice" of sorts. Similar to cigarette taxes and alcohol taxes...You shouldn't be doing it anyway, or at least minimizing your consumption of said devil product. Now if they could somehow tax the hell out of fixie bikes and reality TV shows, I wouldn't have to drink so much to support the state coffers.
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,809
14,156
In a van.... down by the river
I would speculate that there are several factors involved. As Pesqueeb pointed out, in touristy areas that have you by the short hairs in terms of competition, it will most certainly be higher. And I'm sure it costs more (logistically speaking) to actually get the fuel to a station in Vail or other semi-remote locales. However, I think a lot of differences can be accounted for in the State's respective gas taxes. Here in Nor'Cack, they have made it a policy to hog fukc you at the pump to keep other taxes relatively low. I think it has traction with a lot of politicians as they see it as a tax on a "vice" of sorts. Similar to cigarette taxes and alcohol taxes...You shouldn't be doing it anyway, or at least minimizing your consumption of said devil product. Now if they could somehow tax the hell out of fixie bikes and reality TV shows, I wouldn't have to drink so much to support the state coffers.
The difference right now is *inordinately* large in a historical perspective, though - or so it seems.
 

Toshi

butthole powerwashing evangelist
Oct 23, 2001
39,740
8,744
I think a lot of differences can be accounted for in the State's respective gas taxes.
The differences in pump prices between states are $1.00+ in many cases. Yet the fuel excise tax rates themselves only range from $0.08/gal (AK) to $0.41/gal (CA). CO is $0.22/gal, for the record, so it's not even that cheap. My wife's $4.09 rate was in $0.258 NY...

Source: http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/mf.pdf
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
I'm laughing at all the idiots sitting in huge lines at the Costco gas station.

I'm not going to spend 20-30 minutes idling (I wouldn't, I'd actually switch the ignition off, most people don't bother) to save 20 cents a gallon.
 

stevew

resident influencer
Sep 21, 2001
41,159
10,097
so.....what kind of discount will you be able to get on the volt now that it will be gone by 2013?
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
41,808
19,127
Riding the baggage carousel.
NEW YORK (AP) – For the first time, the top export of the United States, the world's biggest gas guzzler, is — wait for it — fuel.

Measured in dollars, the nation is on pace this year to ship more gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel than any other single export, according to U.S. Census data going back to 1990. It will also be the first year in more than 60 that America has been a net exporter of these fuels.

Just how big of a shift is this? A decade ago, fuel wasn't even among the top 25 exports. And for the last five years, America's top export was aircraft.

The trend is significant because for decades the U.S. has relied on huge imports of fuel from Europe in order to meet demand. It only reinforced the image of America as an energy hog. And up until a few years ago, whenever gasoline prices climbed, there were complaints in Congress that U.S. refiners were not growing quickly enough to satisfy domestic demand; that controversy would appear to be over.

Still, the U.S. is nowhere close to energy independence. America is still the world's largest importer of crude oil. From January to October, the country imported 2.7 billion barrels of oil worth roughly $280 billion.

Fuel exports, worth an estimated $88 billion in 2011, have surged for two reasons:

— Crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline and other refined products are made, is a lot more expensive. Oil prices averaged $95 a barrel in 2011, while gasoline averaged $3.52 a gallon — a record. A decade ago oil averaged $26 a barrel, while gasoline averaged $1.44 a gallon.

— The volume of fuel exports is rising. The U.S. is using less fuel because of a weak economy and more efficient cars and trucks. That allows refiners to sell more fuel to rapidly growing economies in Latin America, for example. In 2011, U.S. refiners exported 117 million gallons per day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum products, up from 40 million gallons per day a decade earlier.

There's at least one domestic downside to America's growing role as a fuel exporter. Experts say the trend helps explain why U.S. motorists are paying more for gasoline. The more fuel that's sent overseas, the less of a supply cushion there is at home.

Gasoline supplies are being exported to the highest bidder, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. "It's a world market," he says.

Refining companies won't say how much they make by selling fuel overseas. But analysts say those sales are likely generating higher profits per gallon than they would have generated in the U.S. Otherwise, they wouldn't occur.

The value of U.S. fuel exports has grown steadily over the past decade, coinciding with rising oil prices and increased demand around the globe.

Developing countries in Latin America and Asia have been burning more gasoline and diesel as their people buy more cars and build more roads and factories. Europe also has been buying more U.S. fuel to make up for its lack of refineries.

And there's a simple reason why America's refiners have been eager to export to these markets: gasoline demand in the U.S. has been falling every year since 2007. It dropped by another 2.5 percent in 2011. With the economy struggling, motorists cut back. Also, cars and trucks have become more fuel-efficient and the government mandates the use of more corn-based ethanol fuel.

The last time the U.S. was a net exporter of fuels was 1949, when Harry Truman was president. That year, the U.S. exported 86 million barrels and imported 82 million barrels. In the first ten months of 2011, the nation exported 848 million barrels (worth $73.4 billion) and imported 750 million barrels.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2011-12-31/united-states-export/52298812/1
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
It's amazing how much a few years and a (D) after the president's name instead of an (R) changes one's opinion...


Bill O'Reilly '08 said:
"The next time you hear a politician say he or she will bring down oil prices, understand it's complete B.S. If Americans want lower gas prices, cut back. Sell those SUVs. Ride a bike when you can."
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,792
27,001
media blackout
Bill O'Reilly '08 said:
"The next time you hear a politician say he or she will bring down oil prices, understand it's complete B.S. If Americans want lower gas prices, cut back. Sell those SUVs. Ride a bike when you can."
I'm sure now he complains how bikes are socialist and are clogging traffic lanes. :rolleyes:
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
gasbuddy.com sez:





wonder how many of these stickers are on SUVs here in town:
 
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