Gas Prices

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lance
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Gas Prices

Post by lance » Mar 6th 2005, 1:50 pm

Hey all,

Spring approaches in North America and this can mean only one thing...

higher gasoline prices.


Here in Vegas about two weeks ago unleaded regular was $1.87 a gallon. Thursday it was $2.14. Now its $2.22. I heard on Marketplace (PRI) that experts expected gas prices to rise by as much as $.25 a gallon in the next couple of weeks.

What are gas prices like where you live?

Europeans, you can once again mock our low gas prices by telling what you have to pay.

-LanceMan

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Post by SanDeE* » Mar 6th 2005, 2:37 pm

Yesterday (3/5) I filled up my car in Kansas City, MO with normal unleaded = $2.059 per gallon. Yikes! I really need to start walking to school more...
Um, in my room, one seam is a little off and I stare at it constantly. It's, like, destroying me.

~~Kristin~~

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Post by emmie » Mar 6th 2005, 6:12 pm

I have a jeep, but luckily for me, I don't need to (or have the time) to leave downtown Savannah. so basically I fill up my car every 3 to 4 weeks. gas here has been pretty consistent the past 2 months compared to last year. I always get the middle gas-89 and it's about $1.92 right now. much lower than even six months ago, if I remember correctly.

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Sascha
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Re: Gas Prices

Post by Sascha » Mar 7th 2005, 5:39 am

lance wrote: What are gas prices like where you live?

Europeans, you can once again mock our low gas prices by telling what you have to pay.
Well, you asked for it ;-)

My Peugeot 106 needs diesel which costs as of this morning at my favorite gas station exactly 1 Euro per liter. 1 liter = 0.264172051 US gallon, so 1 gallon costs 3.79 Euro (= US$ 5.01 per gallon).

Normal unleaded is about $5.80 per gallon.

When I filled up my first car 10 years ago, I paid less than the half of the current gaz price. *sigh*

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Nostradamus
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Post by Nostradamus » Mar 7th 2005, 6:02 am

Yup, just the other day I saw a news clip where they showed that after adjusting for inflation and other factors, U.S. gasoline prices are about as low now as they've ever been. But damn, I had no idea the prices were so much higher in Europe!

:o
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Post by starbug » Mar 7th 2005, 8:00 am

I just worked this out - adjusting for US Gallons, the price of about the cheapest gas you could find (generally in a large supermarket) is US$5.63 for a US Gallon, for normal unleaded.
To fill our small Alfa Romeo 2.0ltr costs around £40, which is $76ish.

European cars make something of this expense up by fuel efficiency (which US cars generally lack chronically imho) but it's still a killer.

In New Zealand, gas prices were around the same as the USA, if not even maybe slightly cheaper. It cost us around NZ$45 to fill the tank of a 2.0 ltr car, which is around £16-17.

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Post by SanDeE* » Mar 7th 2005, 1:19 pm

Nostradamus wrote:Yup, just the other day I saw a news clip where they showed that after adjusting for inflation and other factors, U.S. gasoline prices are about as low now as they've ever been.
I saw a special on tv on this subject a few weeks ago, also, and the reporter asked people at a gas station which they thought cost more - the gasoline per gallon or the bottled water (per gallon) for sale inside the gas station and EVERYONE said the gas, when really the bottled water cost A LOT more per gallon than the gasoline (sorry, don't remember the actual numbers on this).
Um, in my room, one seam is a little off and I stare at it constantly. It's, like, destroying me.

~~Kristin~~

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Post by emmie » Mar 7th 2005, 11:38 pm

so, starbug, because of the efficiency in european cars, how long would a full tank last in an average person's car?


(ps, can't wait to hear about your trip!)

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Post by starbug » Mar 8th 2005, 7:37 am

emmie wrote:so, starbug, because of the efficiency in european cars, how long would a full tank last in an average person's car?
Blimey, there's a question to test my maths on this fine morning! :?

I have conducted an extensive 1/2 hour study into this now, and the results are shocking (to me, anyway).

I worked this out for the car Mr. S and I drive, and may I preface this set of facts with the statement that I was lied to about the comparative fuel efficiency of our vehicle at the moment of purchase, by my husband, who to my eternal shame cares far more about performance than he does about fuel efficiency. He knows he married a hippie and thought he'd get around me by being economical with the truth rather than the car. We'll be discussing this when I return home this evening.

Right, now that's out of the way - we drive a rather sporty Alfa Romeo 2.0ltr Selespeed (that's a sort of switchable manual/automatic transmission depending on who's driving), which is now around 2 years old.

For conversion purposes:
1ltr = 0.2641721 US Gallons = 0.2199692 UK Gallons.
1 UK Gallon = 1.2009499 US Gallons

Alfa Romeo 2.0ltr
Fuel tank capacity: 60 ltrs = 15.85 US gallons = 13.2 UK gallons
Fuel Efficiency: Urban = 23.3mpg (UK). Extraurban = 40.4mpg(UK). Averaging = 31.85mpg(UK).
our car will therefore do (31.85 / 1.2009499) = 26.52 miles per US gallon.

So, on a full tank, our car will travel 26.52 x 15.85 = 420.34 miles.

Now, to me that looked pretty good. Until I thought, what if our car is worse than average? So I took what is a pretty normal run-around car for most people: the Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 ltr manual transmission (automatics are still relatively rare over here). It's a very popular car and you see them everywhere. It's not a hybrid car or anything.


Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 ltr 16v
Fuel Tank capacity: 44 ltrs = 11.62 US gallons = 9.68 UK gallons
Fuel Efficiency: Average figure = 64.2 mpg (UK) = 53.46 mpg (US).
Extra-urban figure is 76.3mpg (UK) or 63.53mpg (US), which is frankly astonishing.

So, on a full tank using the average fuel efficiency, the Vauxhall Corsa will travel 53.46 x 11.62 = 621.21 miles. Which is pretty amazing, considering the tank costs around £36 to fill at current prices, or US$69.

I wouldn't know what the 'average' american car is, so I'm going to quit there and let someone with better knowledge than me draw a comparison if they feel inclined. I had a brief look but the sites I found mentioned hybrid cars which I don't think it's fair to include since nobody really drives them yet.

It's the morning, I'm hazy, and if anyone spots any errors in the maths, I take full responsibility. But it's been a pretty interesting exercise, I must say.

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Post by SanDeE* » Mar 8th 2005, 11:57 am

I would LOVE to have a hybrid car. But, being a college student, I'm lucky to have a car at all, I suppose. But I love the car I have anyway!

I drive a 1994 Honda Accord. I think I remember reading somewhere that Toyota Camry & Honda Civic are the two most popular cars in the US, but that was a couple years ago. My car (the Accord) has a 12 gallon gas tank, with a reserve tank of a couple gallons (not sure how much!) and I know that I can make it a little more than 500 miles on a full tank, that is on a highway trip - not just-city driving. City driving is less: usually around 280 miles I need to fill up. (I'm speaking in all US gallons.) I'm not sure how that compares to anything else though. Sorry! I'm not exactly a "car-smart" person.
Um, in my room, one seam is a little off and I stare at it constantly. It's, like, destroying me.

~~Kristin~~

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Post by schris » Mar 8th 2005, 12:23 pm

Kristin wrote: I saw a special on tv on this subject a few weeks ago, also, and the reporter asked people at a gas station which they thought cost more - the gasoline per gallon or the bottled water (per gallon) for sale inside the gas station and EVERYONE said the gas, when really the bottled water cost A LOT more per gallon than the gasoline (sorry, don't remember the actual numbers on this).
I saw this special too! They also asked which was more: a gallon of gas or a gallon of ice cream. And everyone said the ice cream (or the water)!! So me and my Dad were like "What cost more - a gallon of gas or a gallon of gold?" "GAS!!" I just thought that was so ridiculous. Gas where I live bounces around from $1.85 to $1.95 for Regular. I filled up the other day and it was $25 for my 14 gallon tank. I usually fill up every two weeks so I spend about $50 a month on gas. Im lucky that I live so close to my job and don't have to commute.

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Post by starbug » Mar 8th 2005, 12:33 pm

I just worked out that to fill the tank on our car would cost around $31. Do you have any idea how depressing that is? I just reworked it out too for over here and to fill the tank is around £49. That's $94!! or 3x the price that Americans pay. :( Most of that money goes to the government in taxes, so they can spend it on stupid things like expanding airports and ruining the countryside.

Fortunately for us, we rarely use the car (we prob use it about 1-2 times a week). Instead we pay silly money to London Transport to get to work.

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Post by Sascha » Mar 8th 2005, 1:09 pm

Actually I'm going to buy a new car this spring and I'm somewhat considering a hybrid car (not a gas/battery hybrid, but a gas/natural gas hybrid). Natural gas costs about a third less than Diesel and cars like the new Fiat "Punto Natural Power" cost only a bit more than their "old technology" counterparts. And you get some financial benefits from the Government for buying a natural gas car.

But since it's a pretty new technology, they're still having some problems with reliability. And I don't like the look of the Fiat Punto :-)

So I'll probably opt for a new Diesel model and I'll use the so-called "Bio-Diesel" (made out of rapeseed) more often.

(Yes, gas stations in Germany have a very broad "portfolio": Unleaded Normal, Unleaded Super, Unleaded Super Plus, Diesel, Bio-Diesel and about 10% also have Natural Gas).

My current Peugeot 106 has a 11 gallon tank and I can drive about 700 km (435 miles) with it, so that's about 40 miles per US gallon.


While we're on the topic of expensive liquids: Do you know which fluid is even more expensive than blood, perfume or oil? => The ink for modern inkjet printers. One liter of standard HP inkjet ink costs about EUR 1,500 -- that means one gallon costs US$ 7,600! :evil:

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Post by lance » Mar 8th 2005, 11:13 pm

Kristin wrote:I would LOVE to have a hybrid car. But, being a college student, I'm lucky to have a car at all, I suppose. But I love the car I have anyway!

I drive a 1994 Honda Accord. I think I remember reading somewhere that Toyota Camry & Honda Civic are the two most popular cars in the US, but that was a couple years ago. My car (the Accord) has a 12 gallon gas tank, with a reserve tank of a couple gallons (not sure how much!) and I know that I can make it a little more than 500 miles on a full tank, that is on a highway trip - not just-city driving. City driving is less: usually around 280 miles I need to fill up. (I'm speaking in all US gallons.) I'm not sure how that compares to anything else though. Sorry! I'm not exactly a "car-smart" person.
That is on my list as well, once I give up my nomadic ways. Now a hybrid station wagon would be awesome.

-LanceMan

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Post by starbug » Sep 6th 2005, 12:14 pm

I thought I would post a little update, following the effects of Hurricane Katrina on gas prices. And yes, we have been affected in the UK too. As of this weekend, it is costing 95p per litre for gas. Using my incredible-maths-brain :wink: *cough*, I have worked out that this equates to US measurements:



$6.63 for a US Gallon, using today's commercial exchange rate.

Yikes.

How much of a hike are you suffering in your area? And for the Americans, how high would it have to go before the price significantly impacted on your choice of transport (I understand if you have no choice: I note your woeful lack of public mass transit unless you live in a large metropolis).

:?:

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