US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again • Hacker News Board

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#111

Post by atif089 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 6:35 PM UTC

giacomoforte wrote: post #19

atif089 wrote: post #10

Earlier 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.

Lots of EU people are now travelling longer distances due to housing prices and job relocations. My last commute in Germany was 1.5 hr one way and some of my colleagues had 2.5 hr commutes. Hybrid hours though.

You're right. One of my friends in the Netherlands does has a 3 hour total commute over the day. It's insane.

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#112

Post by atif089 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 6:36 PM UTC

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #43

ryankrage77 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> roughly 3 miles, so I spend a gallon of gas every day with 2 round-trips You get 12mpg?

Two cold starts a day and a vehicle larger than a WW2 tank. Sounds believable.

Hahahaha no, its a 2019 CR-V. I explained it in another comment. Maybe it has to do with that journey specifically?

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#113

Post by atif089 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 6:41 PM UTC

samiv wrote: post #39

atif089 wrote: post #10

Earlier 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.

Brother, I live in Austin. It's 40C outside and my kids are very young.

We do have bike paths over that routes but it's just not safe for my kids yet. The road they need to bike along allows up to 65mph.

In the Netherlands I just had to cross a 30km/h road (down to 20km during school hours and pedestrians always get first preference) to drop them. Netherlands is just too satisfactorily safe ♥

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#114

Post by accountofthaha » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:39 AM UTC

porridgeraisin wrote: post #32

accountofthaha wrote: post #7

That is 0.923 Euros a Liter according to Google. That's dirt cheap.

How is it much more expensive in europe? cos in india where we import most of our ONG and its one of the more expensive things on a household bill, it is right now 102INR/L = 0.93 EUR/L.

Okay sorry it's 11 days later, but: mostly taxes etc. Also because the fuel is 'made' partly here (refined), it makes it more costly since workers and also taxes are higher.

Also the Netherlands where I live is very expensive, while Sweden it's 0,50 cents at least lower.

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#115

Post by accountofthaha » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:41 AM UTC

KingOfCoders wrote: post #26

accountofthaha wrote: post #7

That is 0.923 Euros a Liter according to Google. That's dirt cheap.

There are many variables to prices, like larger cities, longer commutes (US drivers drive 2x km per year compared to Germany), bigger cars with worse gas mileage - so higher taxes on gas with higher gas prices (like in Germany) would probably kill the US economy.

I do understand that. I am not invalidating the reasons behind it, but it doesn't change the fact it's cheaper. Here we also have trucks, cars etc that take long commutes and thus a very high price will bring the price of transpiration up.

Also I would argue it's maybe better for the US to use smaller cars, since it thus becomes quite cheap to drive. Also this would probably make the roads safer, as bigger cars (mostly) equal unsafer cars (and shit drivers, but that's just my opinion tbh).

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#116

Post by accountofthaha » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:43 AM UTC

stasomatic wrote: post #87

fabian2k wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many liters per 100 km does a typical US car consume?

My wife drives a VW that's built locally in Tennessee. The engine is from Mexico, the transmission used be from Japan. I think it's a Korean unit now produced on a license. Optimistically, it drinks about 11L per 100KM. Stop and go will severely increase consumption. It's a large car to you, but it's kind of midsize here.

I looked it up, and that car isn't being sold here and would indeed be in the 'big SUV' range. About 3% of cars here are those cars, while in the USA it's about 10-20%.

But question: why drive that car, with that milage, while you could have a slightly smaller car with better milage? I just don't get that.

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#117

Post by accountofthaha » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:44 AM UTC

consp wrote: post #11

accountofthaha wrote: post #7

That is 0.923 Euros a Liter according to Google. That's dirt cheap.

I thought wait isn't it lower, but that's imperial gallon which is about 3/4l more per gallon. I always mess those up.

Imperial is the British variant right?

Re: US gas prices hit an average of $4 a gallon again

#118

Post by stasomatic » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 3:56 PM UTC

accountofthaha wrote: post #116

stasomatic wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife drives a VW that's built locally in Tennessee. The engine is from Mexico, the transmission used be from Japan. I think it's a Korean unit now produced on a license. Optimistically, it drinks about 11L per 100KM. Stop and go will severely increase consumption. It's a large car to you, but it's kind of midsize here.

I looked it up, and that car isn't being sold here and would indeed be in the 'big SUV' range. About 3% of cars here are those cars, while in the USA it's about 10-20%. But question: why drive that car, with that milage, while you could have a slightly smaller car with better milage? I just don't get that.

But question: why drive that car, with that milage, while you could have a slightly smaller car with better milage? I just don't get that.

I am long time VW driver. I've had several GTIs, have driven the Rabbits, the Corrodos, the Sciroccos. My fave was my '95 Driver's Edition GTI, the one with the the golf ball for the manual transmission knob.

Things have changed. I have a mini bear 120 lbs Akita. 2 bikes that fit nicely in the trunk of the Atlas (mine is Cross Sport), so that we don't have to deal with hitches and bike racks. I've spent thousands on Thule bike racks and don't like the experience when backing up and maneuvering, the constant beeps and near panic attack level alerts.

We also live in Miami, where biblical level floods are at least twice a year. The clearance helps. My wife refuses to drive a sedan, because they really float down the street when it rains, you might as well get row paddles and a sail. And, I won't risk driving my EV (Hyundai Ioniq 5) in such conditions. It's the states/urban planning fault, but here we are. Even the Atlas's clearance isn't much help in these conditions, I've seen lifted Toyota trucks just slide into the canals.

In addition, and I can't tell what's the chicken or what's the egg, but we don't have access to inexpensive utilitarian vehicles in the US. The manifucatures dropped low margin vehicles, everything is luxury this or that, that includes European brands that export to the US.

I love small cars, it's that we only have a few on the market, and the ones that remain don't make sense financially. My 2010 Mini Cooper was a hoot to drive, I drove it with my Weimaraner (RIP Lotus) coast to coast twice with room to spare.

while in the USA it's about 10-20%

These numbers look too low. When I lived in North Carolina a few years ago, seemingly every other vehicle was either an F150 or a Ram or a Silverado, and that's not counting SUVs. The US is not a monoculture.