Live data from Hacker News

California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

kmph.com

121–130 of 226 posts

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#121
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also our infra not being 240v is hurting us. The rest of the world can just plug in overnight to any regular outlet and it is good enough for almost any commute. US homes don't need any significant accommodations for 240 volt infra. Plenty of US home appliances are already 240 volt; this is a solved problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMmUoZh3Hq4

Yeah this confuses me. I was under the impression that every electric oven and clothes dryer in the US was 240 (220) volts already. I was not aware or tracking that 240v was an issue. Is that the case in places in the US?

Nearly all US homes have 240V to the electric panel, and some have it for specific places in the house (though many places are almost entirely gas dryers/ovens), but you would need a special outlet run to charge your car at 240V since almost all regular receptacles are 120v. Even the heavy duty receps in garages and utility spaces are most often just 20A/120V instead of the standard 15A/120V.

Quotes for a new 240V line are often >$1K which is affordable in the context of a household improvement but not exactly pocket change.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm conservative and own an EV and ICE truck. I know many conservatives with Tesla's. I have solar and a propane generator as backups. I think the propaganda would be whatever said we're all against it, that's untrue. We just want both, no gas bans.

Conservative bots are out strong in Pacific NW forums slop posting against new "green energy" energy projects. Blaming the (not yet built!) green energy projects for upcoming rate increases. Nevermind that solar is why Texas has such cheap electricity prices. > no gas bans. I'm all for the free market. Price into gas the expected increase in healthcare costs due to air and ground water pollution. Stop subsidizing it…

There's already like 90c of gasoline tax in California and some of the highest auto registration fees, and that's on top of other rules that make it more expensive.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#123
post #45

What this article fails to mention is that there are also a record number of empty tankers routed to the US refineries right now, with the intention of shifting still-relatively cheap US oil products to overseas markets where the prices are already much higher and shortages have already hit. The effects of the Iran war on the US economy will really start to kick in over the next several months.

I suppose it's too much to ask that oil produced in the US be used for the US people?

Why would they sell it for less when they could sell it for more?

We’re witnessing “American exceptionalism” transform from a brash claim to a whiny demand in real time.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#124
post #67
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In such a situation - especially heading into the midterms - an export ban may be increasingly probable.

This is way outside of my area of expertise, but I thought US export oil was not fungible with what we consume.

It’s actually harder (requires more advanced technology) to refine heavy and sour crude. The US refining industry process this type of oil mainly because it’s more profitable not because of some limitation.

American oil on the other hand (As in extracted out of the ground) is actually too high quality for domestic consumption therefore gets shipped overseas and sold at a premium. The weird economics of this are made possible by globalization. While it’s not fungible on a dime it’s easy to solve and the US really does hold all the cards when it comes to the petroleum industry.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#125

I’m surprised that only “18.9% of new car sales” in California are electric [1]. [1] https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2026-01/california-surpasses-...

Anyone who lives in an apartment or condo will have a difficult time charging an EV in CA.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've had decades to do something about it, but if Trump deciding to step into a completely unnecessary war and blundering the entire thing is what makes everyone wake up then I guess that's a silver lining.

4D chess baby. He's a genius. All of his oil investing friends think so.

He's the best, the best at everything. Including tanking the world economy...

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#127

Didn't California shut down 2 high capacity refineries in the last couple of years?

The capitalists who own them shut them down.

But this guy is fixated on the fact that 17% of the refineries were closed in a state where gas sales fell 17%.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#128
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other countries have $15k new electric city cars for sale. The US doesn't. Our domestic car manufacturers are either uninterested or unable to make them, and import bans are in place on foreign cars that meet that price point. Also our infra not being 240v is hurting us. The rest of the world can just plug in overnight to any regular outlet and it is good enough for almost any commute. My EV on a 120v outlet I can ma…

I think most of the US has 240 to the home. Look at your power feed, if there are two insulated conductors on an uninsulated line, those are two 120V lines of opposite phase/polarity. I have a friend who temporarily ran a 240 volt welder by plugging into a custom outlet box, wired with two plugs that went to two outlets on different legs of the breaker box. Electric ovens, ACs, hot tubs, dryers, etc. are all commonly…

I fully understand the 240 vs 120 in US houses.

The difference is other countries have 240 running everywhere. So apartment garages can have cars charging (slower than the max possible speed but faster than if they were on 120v), without tens of thousands of dollars in retrofits.

I just got an estimate of 3k for running basically 6ft of conduit for a new 240v line in my own garage (my breaker is right next to my door, super short run!)

Now thinking about my last condo I lived in, retrofitting even a small condo parking garage for EV chargers for, say, 20 spaces. Let's estimate 30 feet on average line run per space. Assuming a discount on price, maybe 12k per parking space to install a 240 plug, with lines split to cover multiple spaces.

The price is just absurd. That's 1/3rd the cost of a reasonably priced car.

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#129
post #37

I’m surprised that only “18.9% of new car sales” in California are electric [1]. [1] https://www.energy.ca.gov/news/2026-01/california-surpasses-...

Other countries have $15k new electric city cars for sale. The US doesn't. Our domestic car manufacturers are either uninterested or unable to make them, and import bans are in place on foreign cars that meet that price point. Also our infra not being 240v is hurting us. The rest of the world can just plug in overnight to any regular outlet and it is good enough for almost any commute. My EV on a 120v outlet I can ma…

The bigger problem isn't the 240v, it's that a lot of people just don't have parking that's practical for plugging in without extensive rewiring (a vast majority of condo/apartment garages) or running a hundred-foot extension cord down the building and across sidewalk (https://i.imgur.com/ou0uYmb.jpeg).

Re: California leaders report four to six weeks worth of gasoline and diesel supply

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last year there was some rumbling that Newsom would start to increase production because two refineries were closing sooner than later with the prospect of much higher gas prices. Since CA is really pushing renewables hard and transitioning off of fossil fuels, all the front runners for CA governor have indicated they are steadfastly against increasing production. Gavin Newsom warms to Big Oil in climate reversal: ht…

> Newsom would start to increase production Newsom is not a refinery nor does he own any refineries. He cannot increase any production by definition.

He can allow non-California-special-blend gasoline to be sold in California, as a temporary emergency measure. This does not increase any production, but it massively increases the production of gasoline that can legally be sold in California.

(As a side benefit, he can also blame the need on Trump, if the environmentalists get on his case...)

Post reply on HN