How bout those gas prices?

iggibar said:

The cheapest gas around me, via GasBuddy, is $3.45.9 for regular. $3.89.9 for premium.
And, $3.73.9 for diesel!

Click to expand...

Gas Buddy is great. I am a member and report all the prices in my area of my city.

vansmith said:

I had an engineer friend tell me recently that gas powered engines are only something like 20% efficient. Talk about waste! So, not only do you have oversized hunks of metal moving small objects (us), they're doing it in an incredibly inefficient fashion.

Click to expand...

That is why a Game Changer would be some radically different approach. Fuel economy improvements help, but they are fractional percentages of savings when you look at the whole picture. Something that would give a 10% overall improvement would be massive (the equivalent of doubling our efficiency using our current transport model).

Razormac said:

That is why a Game Changer would be some radically different approach. Fuel economy improvements help, but they are fractional percentages of savings when you look at the whole picture. Something that would give a 10% overall improvement would be massive (the equivalent of doubling our efficiency using our current transport model).

Click to expand...

It would seem that plug-in hybrids (like the Volt) are a sign of hope (not necessarily the Volt itself but the technology). Apparently, plug in hybrids are roughly 80% efficient (source - yes, I know it's Wikipedia ). Those cars however don't obviate my earlier concern - where do you get all the electricity?

The cynic in me makes me believe that there will be no source of renewable energy that won't destroy the environment for one simple reason: there are too many people. Is there any form of fuel that can support all forms of transportation that the planet uses? From where I sit, probably not. The number of new cars built every day for the Chinese market alone is staggering and that's just automobiles in one market.

dtravis7 said:

Gas Buddy is great. I am a member and report all the prices in my area of my city.

Click to expand...

I try to update gas prices whenever I can, which usually ends up being when I'm looking for gas to fill up and comes up with the wrong prices. The only problem is, you mostly see the prices as you drive, which is really not that safe to run through to update prices.

Probably the biggest impediment to really improving efficiency is existing infrastructure. To do it right we will have to start from scratch.

What I am talking about is along this order:

1) Lighter vehicles where the vehicle to passenger weight ratio was a lot closer to 1 to 1 than the current 10 to 1 would REALLY help, but . . .

2) Lighter vehicles have to share the streets and highways with existing cars and trucks, at existing traffic speeds, so . . .

3) They require substantial horsepower to weight to accelerate with the above mentioned road denizens, and crash protection in the event they run into or are run over by the same, which all means increased weight.

What would work is if ALL cargo transport was confined to a separate transport system (rail e.g.) and existing roadways were reworked to accommodate light (probably electric powered) passenger transport. In so doing we would either have to destroy all existing road vehicles, or design the new system to prevent their entry.
Either would work, but the above is not a change we are likely to make until we must.

Razormac said:

Either would work, but the above is not a change we are likely to make until we must.

Click to expand...

Ah yes, the good ol' human way - don't fix things until we absolutely have to do so.

I have no problem with new energy, as long as the powers that be aren't empowered to start telling everyone they have to use it. And yes, I lump putting a ridiculous % sin tax on gasoline or imposing regulations that vehicles must get some crazy gas mileage to be street legal as part of that. I'm not sure I could part with my V8 peacefully.

Im ready to trade my truck in for a scooter. Gas prices in NE PA are aboulr 3.75 depending on where you go

Gas prices here are around $4.30 and they are on the rise.

It sucks, but there is nothing I can really do at the moment except for try to carpool more and drive less frequently. Being in So-Cal, driving is basically mandatory for everything unless you are lucky and happen to live near public transit. Even then, it would take forever to get anywhere.

Looks like they suspended Chevy Volt production already. Funny how that happens when the government tries to dictate a market. The US government is proving to be very lousy at the alternative energy venture capital game lately.

There are more and more "unconventional-conventional" combustion engines being made these days that claim to get 40mpg. Mazda calls it Skyactiv technology. BO says that in a matter of years, such cars will get 55mpg. Hybrids already can't compete because of the higher purchase price, and in cold weather they don't do as well as when it's warm. I'm not sold on them, if you can't tell.

toMACsh said:

There are more and more "unconventional-conventional" combustion engines being made these days that claim to get 40mpg. Mazda calls it Skyactiv technology. BO says that in a matter of years, such cars will get 55mpg.

Click to expand...

I love when they come up with fancy labels like that. So, you cut the weight, tweaked the aerodynamics and smoothed out the air intake tract... and now it's "SkyActiv". LOL.

I have a Vw jetta and passat and I get 30 in my passat and about 37 in my jetta. It sucks though it used to be 30 to fill it now it's around 65.

Ah you crazy Americans, complaining about your puny petrol prices. We pay approx £1.40 per litre for petrol and approaching £1.50 for diesel which equates to around £6 per litre, or around $10 US. Fuel duty runs at 100% plus an extra 20% VAT (hint - the T stands for 'tax').

I could stomach the complaints if you were paying a realistic price for your fuel and you drove economical cars.

The average distance driven per year by Americans is 15,000 miles. I'm not sure exactly how many kilometers that would be, but it's roughly 9,3000. Given that distances are shorter in Europe, I bet that's more than the average there. So the farther one has to drive, the more the cost impacts one's budget.

And I drive 4 cylinder vehicles.

moff said:

Ah you crazy Americans, complaining about your puny petrol prices. We pay approx £1.40 per litre for petrol and approaching £1.50 for diesel which equates to around £6 per litre, or around $10 US. Fuel duty runs at 100% plus an extra 20% VAT (hint - the T stands for 'tax').

I could stomach the complaints if you were paying a realistic price for your fuel and you drove economical cars.

Click to expand...

Funny. See, I could stomach the $10 petrol complaints if you hadn't conceded to 120% taxes, thus relegating you to driving around in little fart-cans.

XJ-linux said:

Looks like they suspended Chevy Volt production already. Funny how that happens when the government tries to dictate a market. The US government is proving to be very lousy at the alternative energy venture capital game lately.

Click to expand...

What do you mean? You blame the gov. for it not selling, and stock piling in dealer lots? That's why they stopped production, you know.

toMACsh said:

The average distance driven per year by Americans is 15,000 miles. I'm not sure exactly how many kilometers that would be, but it's roughly 9,3000. Given that distances are shorter in Europe, I bet that's more than the average there. So the farther one has to drive, the more the cost impacts one's budget.

Click to expand...

I can assure you that 15,000 miles isn't 93,000 kilometres.

You moved my comma!

The 0 in the middle should not be there.

Well then, I can assure you that 15,000 miles isn't 9,300 kilometres.