Crazy how cheap gasoline is in USA. $4 is still basically half as much as anywhere in Europe even when there isn't a war.
And your point is what exactly?
US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
71–80 of 118 posts
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a Jevons Paradox type thing where they ended up spending roughly the same to travel a mile due to Japan or the EU pushing for efficiency due to needing to import the fuel (might be visible in California too due to them fighting their geography that causes smog). Possibly the EU is pulling ahead on price per mile now with the shift to EVs.
Wait until you hear about German electricity prices... (household elec is about 30-35c/kWh, public charging stations for electric cars often charge 60-70c/kWh, no joke, although I think some vendors now offer 40c charging with a subscription)
Does Germany have anything similar to the cheap off-peak electricity tariffs we get in the UK? Generally 6-10c/kWh.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Americans also drive A LOT more than Europeans on average, and generally (is my suspicion at least) with a lot bigger/less efficient engines
Not too sure about the engines as of late. Bigger and heavier vehicles - yes, but still mostly rural/highway, and at way lower speeds than the EU. Overall, IMO it's just the distances involved.
Lot's of European cars have 3 cylinders instead of American V8.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not too sure about the engines as of late. Bigger and heavier vehicles - yes, but still mostly rural/highway, and at way lower speeds than the EU. Overall, IMO it's just the distances involved.
Lot's of European cars have 3 cylinders instead of American V8.
The majority of American ICE vehicles are 4-cylinder, not 8.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
3 miles is less than 5km. Perfectly fine by bicycle. Oh wait.. I guess you have too much freedom and no infrastructure other than highways so you gotta drive and burn all the fuel, time and money.
I live in the EU: I pay at least half my income in taxes, have less freedom due to insane bureaucracy, and the infrastructure around me isn't great (highways or pedestrian/bicycle). On top of that, fuel is double what it is in the US. Whatever shortcomings there are in US society, it's not perfect in the EU either. That US freedom and infrastructure looks OK to me.
If gas was free for EU, we'd still pay more than US for it, by the sheer amount of taxes. 25-30% of current price is gas cost itself, raw cost, the rest is taxes.
So if EU somehow magically got the same amount of gas for 100% free, we'd at most pay some 25% less than we do now, and it would still be more expensive than US.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#76Good thing we have a subsidy to encourage people to buy EVs. Ohh wait… I suspect the price will be directly subsidized to keep folks happy. Since we’re in wacky world this subsidy will be inconsistent depending on where you are. Blue States will be left with gas going to 6$ or more and Red States will probably have prices subsidized down to 4$.
That has already happened. Lower state gas taxes and friendly to refineries on their land = cheaper gas. Oil is already heavily, heavily subsidized: https://e360.yale.edu/digest/republican-spending-bill-fossil...
That one alone is over $100 per person per year, so we all paid extra, even those who don't drive.
Even with all that we're still at $4/gal.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#77Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's cheap but you also travel a lot in the US. Specially in the southern states because everything is so far. Anecdotal reference, my children's school is roughly 3 miles, so I spend a gallon of gas every day with 2 round-trips. That number was zero in Netherlands because all schools are either walkable or bike able. Supermarkets and restaurants are 5 miles away easily. Heck, my neighbor (door to door) is 0.4 miles.
3 miles is less than 5km. Perfectly fine by bicycle. Oh wait.. I guess you have too much freedom and no infrastructure other than highways so you gotta drive and burn all the fuel, time and money.
I rode my bike to school as a kid in the US. Kids still ride their bikes to school and to the parks/pool, I see them riding by my house every day.
This weird jingoism serves no one.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait until you hear about German electricity prices... (household elec is about 30-35c/kWh, public charging stations for electric cars often charge 60-70c/kWh, no joke, although I think some vendors now offer 40c charging with a subscription)
Those household prices should still put a German EV substantially ahead of the average new US vehicle in fuel cost per mile. If they did all their charging at 70 they'd probably lose on cost to a US car (or a German diesel) but be equal to a German petrol car. I think Germany has a cultural thing with smart meters which are mandatory for the ultra cheap charging available in many EU countries but it appears that you…
You're comparing EV charging prices to US fuel prices though, that's not a fair comparison. I live in the US and have an electric car, which I charge at home on my municipal's grid. The rate is a whopping 10.5¢ per kw/h.
Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You get 12mpg? It's the USA, so he's probably dropping the kids to school in a pickup truck...
Even big pickups get better mileage than 12mpg
Some do, some don't. As a concrete example, the F150 [1] pretty reliably doesn't. Big SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler can be pretty far down there too.