Falling Gas Prices

[ben550]

The Hummer is back. Thank falling oil prices. - The Washington Post

Saw this article... thanks to the falling oil prices, looks like the SUV market is picking up again. Glad to know there will be a larger pool of used SUV/trucks on the used market in a few years.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I know I am happy gas prices are falling (except in the ghetto, one horse town I live in). My wife and I both drive 30 miles one way to work everyday. We can't carpool with each other but had carpools with other folks. Unfortunately, I was swapped to another crew (I really don't want to carpool with these guys) and she took on some more roles at her job, which cuts into how much she can carpool.

Looking back, I never thought there would be a time where paying $2.50 a gallon felt like such a bargain. That's what I paid today and oddly, it felt good.

 

[Kenworth]

The election is over! So buckel up folks fuel will go up now

 

[fourwd1]

Moved to OT.

 

[ndcent]

The election is over! So buckel up folks fuel will go up now

Still sub $3 here. Cool theory though!

 

[LittleCaesar]

I'll be real happy if they reach their 98-99 prices when I was paying .99 cents a gallon for premium. I wouldn't bet the farm though that they will drop that far.

Falling gas prices is a real stimulus for the economy. It offers benefits to all who drive by keeping money in their pocket for other things. The government brings in more tax dollars, thus having more money to spend on road repairs. Too bad for the suckers invested heavily in energy stocks at the moment.

 

[lelandr]

I'll be real happy if they reach their 98-99 prices when I was paying .99 cents a gallon for premium. I wouldn't bet the farm though that they will drop that far.

Falling gas prices is a real stimulus for the economy. It offers benefits to all who drive by keeping money in their pocket for other things. The government brings in more tax dollars, thus having more money to spend on road repairs. Too bad for the suckers invested heavily in energy stocks at the moment.

There has been an explosion in the number of vehicles globally since 98/99. Last year, more new cars were sold in China than in the USA, something pretty far-fetched in 98. I was in Thailand this autumn, and the number of cars there is definitely significantly increasing, although that's a country of only 60 million or so.

With developing markets only set to grow (the alternative is bad for all of us), this is only going to get worse. Simple supply & demand.

You want more cars on the road driving more miles? I find myself daily wishing for the opposite. It's actually ironic. I love cars, became an engineer because of my interest in them. I have a track car. But hell, any more I just shudder at the thought of driving anywhere. The roads are just packed to the gills with incompetent, inconsiderate, distracted idiots.

Premium here is right at $3. Fortunately, my BMWs return 30-31mpg (well, depending on my habits). The 4Runner is downright brutal though at 13-14mpg.

 

[AKmoney]

My take on it is we should all enjoy the price dip while it lasts. As [MENTION=108337]lelandr[/MENTION] points out, there are hundreds of millions of people in developing countries who are starting to buy cars and over the long run it can only mean one thing... Buy that Prius daily driver now while they're cheap and not in demand.

 

[JB.]

You want more cars on the road driving more miles? I find myself daily wishing for the opposite. It's actually ironic. I love cars, became an engineer because of my interest in them. I have a track car. But hell, any more I just shudder at the thought of driving anywhere. The roads are just packed to the gills with incompetent, inconsiderate, distracted idiots.

My pea brain can't keep track of all the tradeoffs but I was actually loving the effects of the 2009 recession on the roadways (as well as the interruption in the home construction frenzy).

I go with the flow and just try to enjoy the benefits and ignore the costs, but the costs are always there and not always easy to ignore.

 

[paddlenbike]

My wife and I decided to lease a Nissan Leaf pure electric car early this year and it's been a bit of a game-changer for us. It's so cheap that I couldn't even ride a bus to work for what we pay for this thing. I'm posting actual numbers below.

We leased the LEAF in January of 2014 so let's compare fuel expenses:
Month--2013------2014 (with LEAF)
Jan - $243.98 - $18.45
Feb - $147.68 - $0
Mar - $174.86 - $146.28
Apr - $343.50 - $55.37
May - $163.49 - $97.41
Jun - $157.98 - $27.82
Jul - $236.57 - $109.33
Aug - $230.97 - $52.31
Sep - $340.29 - $0
Oct - $111.66 - $0
Nov - $91.43 - $0
Dec - $204.86

So before the LEAF I averaged $204 a month driving to a park and ride (NOT to my actual workplace), then I paid $125 a month for a bus pass. (Total = $329/mo). If I actually did the same commute with the 4Runner it would cost far more than that.

Now I pay $210 a month to lease the LEAF and drive to my workplace and charge for free there. I cut a full hour per day out of my schedule now that I drive to work rather than take the bus. Of course you see I still buy gas because I still need the 4Runner for trips, home improvement, skiing, etc.

I'm surprised more people don't get these things based on economics alone, much less the fun driving experience and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Then again, that's why I'm posting here...maybe people don't realize how economical these things are.

Ken

 

[lelandr]

My wife and I decided to lease a Nissan Leaf pure electric car early this year and it's been a bit of a game-changer for us. It's so cheap that I couldn't even ride a bus to work for what we pay for this thing. I'm posting actual numbers below.

We leased the LEAF in January of 2014 so let's compare fuel expenses:
Month--2013------2014 (with LEAF)
Jan - $243.98 - $18.45
Feb - $147.68 - $0
Mar - $174.86 - $146.28
Apr - $343.50 - $55.37
May - $163.49 - $97.41
Jun - $157.98 - $27.82
Jul - $236.57 - $109.33
Aug - $230.97 - $52.31
Sep - $340.29 - $0
Oct - $111.66 - $0
Nov - $91.43 - $0
Dec - $204.86

So before the LEAF I averaged $204 a month driving to a park and ride (NOT to my actual workplace), then I paid $125 a month for a bus pass. (Total = $329/mo). If I actually did the same commute with the 4Runner it would cost far more than that.

Now I pay $210 a month to lease the LEAF and drive to my workplace and charge for free there. I cut a full hour per day out of my schedule now that I drive to work rather than take the bus. Of course you see I still buy gas because I still need the 4Runner for trips, home improvement, skiing, etc.

I'm surprised more people don't get these things based on economics alone, much less the fun driving experience and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Then again, that's why I'm posting here...maybe people don't realize how economical these things are.

Ken

By virtue of the fact that you get the electricity FREE at work, you haven't given a fair comparison. I realize that in most areas of the country that electricity is cheaper than gas, but you have left the real costs out completely. Factor in what the cost of electricity is, and the gains are diminished.

Furthermore, let's say that the electric car market greatly expended suddenly... what do simple economics say is going to happen to the prices of electricity?

I've driven a Leaf, fun isn't really a word is use to describe it, but that's just me as I prefer sports cars.

 

[paddlenbike]

^^ Fair enough...I wrote the post in a hurry and you're right, I should have posted the actual electricity costs because it's unbelievably cheap.

The LEAF logs my mileage and electricity consumption. This is for October 2014 and you can see I drove 938.4 miles that month and the electricity consumption was 218.6 kilowatts. I pay 10.8 cents per kilowatt, so 218.6 kilowatts x .108 = $23.61.

So, $23.61 to drive 938 miles--at 17 mpg and even today's LOW $3.00 gallon rates, the 4Runner would cost $165.53 to drive those same miles, or over 7X more. So even if I paid for every cent of my electricity, the cost doesn't change the equation whatsoever.

Hope that makes the comparison more useful. If you have solar on your house, those costs are even lower.

 

[JBecker]

Yeah I'm definitely liking these cheap gas prices. $2.65 for regular is the going rate around here. And I can't wait for electric motorcycles to finally be viable. They won't ever replace my gas machines, but one of these street legal would be an awesome commuter vehicle.

 

[paddlenbike]

I would love to knock around my local trails on this:
Electric Motion - Rando - YouTube

I'm a mountain bike guy, but I could enjoy that!

 

[lelandr]

^^ Fair enough...I wrote the post in a hurry and you're right, I should have posted the actual electricity costs because it's unbelievably cheap.

The LEAF logs my mileage and electricity consumption. This is for October 2014 and you can see I drove 938.4 miles that month and the electricity consumption was 218.6 kilowatts. I pay 10.8 cents per kilowatt, so 218.6 kilowatts x .108 = $23.61.

So, $23.61 to drive 938 miles--at 17 mpg and even today's LOW $3.00 gallon rates, the 4Runner would cost $165.53 to drive those same miles, or over 7X more. So even if I paid for every cent of my electricity, the cost doesn't change the equation whatsoever.

Hope that makes the comparison more useful. If you have solar on your house, those costs are even lower.

Thanks for taking the time for that. First, I'm not against electric cars. The best case scenario is one in which there are abundant choices of vehicle fuels. The competition will keep everyone more honest. I do like the German diesels personally. The best rental I've ever had was a BMW 320d. Even with extended runs at max speed on the autobahn (~140mph) and cruising across France at 85-90mph, I got a mixed average of ~41mpg over about 2000 miles. Not bad for a mid size car.

One other technicality about the Leaf is the contention that it's zero emissions, when in fact is just displaced (albeit reduced) emissions. They just come from a power plant smokestack instead of the tailpipe.

Again, I'm not against it, alternatively-powered vehicles are really putting pressure on conventional fuels to lower the price. I noticed that many cars & trucks in Thailand have been converted to run on gas OR propane. That has caused the price of gas to rise more slowly than other goods in that market.