[Stealth]

it's around $2.50 here.  give or take a couple of cents.

The percentage of trucks and SUVs in Texas is more than any other state.  and they don't put many 4 banger engines in trucks and SUVs  swear it's the reason i'm looking for a 4 cylinder car.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Omniscaper
$33.25 to fill a tank of a 2002 Honda Civic. WTF

Nice to know that Hybrids are now getting the horsepower to be seriously considered by the masses.

I'm looking forward to hydrogen fuel cell research proceed to practical application.

Anyone who thinks hybrids lack horsepower has never driven a 2002 Toyota Prius.

[Kazan]

or sat on the 2 year waiting list to get one

[mikhael]

Nah. Its down to 3mos in this area, Kaz. I rented one when my wife and I went to Disneyworld. When passing cars on the highway, the thing had as much punch as my Thunderbird or my old Firebird.

When I move back to Oz, I'll be buying a new Prius without a doubt. $4+/gallon is just too expensive NOT to own a hybrid.

[redmenace]

I am going to be buying a hybrid as well. But I am really interested in the cars that you will be able to plug into a electrical outlet.

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]See the thing that bothers me is that hybrid technology is not in it's infancy, in fact they've been working on it since the 70's with a decent amount of success, the reason that it's apparently so expensive is that everything is built around oil, no infrastructure is in place to market any competing technology.

Oil is such a big business that america is unwilling to change. Oil has fueled their vehicle construction and shipping/drilling businesses not to mention kept them at war for a while so the 'defense' (hah!) industry has been able to crank out weapons at a decent rate.

Coupled with americans demanding low fuel prices regardless of the availability (I've never heard of any other country's public staging protests over prices) and an obscene disregard for fuel economic vehicles leads to a few people becoming very rich at literally the expense of the entire world. Kyoto's agreement was fluffed over, irrespective of arguments that it'll do any good in the long term it shows an obvious tilt towards not giving a damn about anything that would endanger the cash cow that is oil.
[/color]

[IceFire]

Well even the Neo-cons are saying that America needs to get away from its dependancy on oil.  So even they are starting to come around to alternative fuel concepts.

When the Neo-cons and environmentalists agree (albiet for very different reasons)...thats saying something.

I'm hoping the first car I buy is a hybrid.

[vyper]

[q]...thats saying something.[/q]

It's time to buy long life tinned foods?

[redmenace]

Originally posted by IceFire
Well even the Neo-cons are saying that America needs to get away from its dependancy on oil.  So even they are starting to come around to alternative fuel concepts.

When the Neo-cons and environmentalists agree (albiet for very different reasons)...thats saying something.

I'm hoping the first car I buy is a hybrid.

Well it is the dependance on foreign oil that conservatives are concerned with. This doesn't mean that some conservatives are not concerned about global warning, particularly in regaurds to recent climate change in Alaska. Some talk radio hosts like John Batchelor for instance have has had a number of authors on his program talking about this very subject. There is also the economic problems related to the gas prices rising.

As per the "evil" car makers. Let me just say this, they are digging themselves their own grave. While companies like Toyota are adapting hybrid technology to larger vehicles, companies like Ford and GM are almost a decade behind in R&D in relation to hybrid technology.

[Whitelight]

Yep gas prices do suck since both me and my wife drive seperate cars..
Oh and the going price for one of those hybrid cars You might as well invest in a house..
Me I drive a 92 chevy cavilier, yep its a 4 banger..

My wife on the other hand drives a dodge caravan, its a V6 ..
We pay about $2.59 a gallon..

Oh and for the record, there is no need for prices to be so high, its highway robbery.

[Styxx]

The point that guy made about the life, replacement and disposing of batteries is quite interesting. Here hybrids are gaining more and more space in the market, but they're not hybrid gasoline-electric cars, they're hybrid gasoline-ethanol, or even gasoline-ethanol-natural gas cars. Ethanol will give you just as much power (even a bit more, at the expense of less Km/l) as gasoline running on the same engine. It pollutes a lot less, is cheap (cheaper than gasoline here) and is renewable.

The infrastructure for ethanol distribution has been in place here in Brazil for decades, since it's basically the same used for gasoline, and every gas station will have at least one ethanol pump (up to a few years ago you could get your car either gasoline or ethanol powered, only the new ones work on both fuels). Also, if you have a relatively new car (1999 and onwards) you can install a simple and cheap conversion kit that'll allow your car to use gasoline and/or ethanol in any proportion.

Anyway, gasoline here costs R$ 2.60 a litre, which is around US$ 1.10 or so. Ethanol is costing around R$ 1.70. You can get only about 80% of the "mileage" per litre out of it compared to gasoline (depends on the engine, though), but it's still the cheapest option.

[Dough with Fish]

Heheheheh... I just got back from filling my truck up. $2.59-9, or in other words, $2.60 a gallon. Highest I've seen it here in Minnesota was $2.80 a gallon, that was this past Monday.

[EtherShock]

Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]Oil is such a big business that america is unwilling to change. Oil has fueled their vehicle construction and shipping/drilling businesses not to mention kept them at war for a while so the 'defense' (hah!) industry has been able to crank out weapons at a decent rate.

Coupled with americans demanding low fuel prices regardless of the availability (I've never heard of any other country's public staging protests over prices) and an obscene disregard for fuel economic vehicles leads to a few people becoming very rich at literally the expense of the entire world. Kyoto's agreement was fluffed over, irrespective of arguments that it'll do any good in the long term it shows an obvious tilt towards not giving a damn about anything that would endanger the cash cow that is oil.
[/color]

They probably wouldn't be *****ing if we didn't keep gas prices artificially low for so long. You have a link?

[Martinus]

[color=66ff00]Looks like I didn't do my research properly. There have been a number of protests around europe and one in the UK.

What were you looking a link to Ether?
[/color]

[Stealth]

has anyone ever tried propane, or know of anyone that has?  I know a couple of people that have with pretty good success

[Roanoke]

Originally posted by aldo_14
Last time I was in the states I never saw a single hatchback, but then again that was quite some time ago.

I read Yanks prefer "sedans" because if they're shunted from the rear there's more bodywork between the two drivers.

The real shame of the situation is LPG gained quite a following 20/30 yrears ago but died out becuse of the dominance of petrol/diesel. Imagine the situation now if LPG had been allowed to flourish and the infastructure put in place.

[Kosh]

Originally posted by redmenace
So, the supply is dwindling, and the demand is growing. However, I will say is that they have not been modernizing and refitting their refineries as they should. At least now they shouldn't have any real excuse as far as I can tell. Lets not forget China as well. Their energy requirements are growing quickly.

China isn't helping the gas price increae, but main culprit is the US. 55% of the vehicles on the road in the US are SUV's. The average SUV gets between 10-15 MPG. Americans drive these dinosaurs, and now that fuel prices are going up so much they are now getting what they deserve.


The biggest problem with the US is the total lack of leadership coming from Washington. There isn't a single politician on either side of the political spectrum who is making a stand of some sort and encouraging people to make these dinosaurs extinct. Instead they try and use China as a scapegoat for the SUV.

[EtherShock]

Originally posted by Maeglamor
[color=66ff00]Looks like I didn't do my research properly. There have been a number of protests around europe and one in the UK.

What were you looking a link to Ether?
[/color]

Wow, really?

I was just wondering if you have a link to pictures or articles about the gas price protests, but I found some, so don't worry about it.

[redmenace]

Originally posted by Kosh



China isn't helping the gas price increae, but main culprit is the US. 55% of the vehicles on the road in the US are SUV's. The average SUV gets between 10-15 MPG. Americans drive these dinosaurs, and now that fuel prices are going up so much they are now getting what they deserve.
Well, yes it is there own fault for that and not developing a more extensive public transportation system in such places as DC Metro area. However, they do have a right to purchase these gas guzzlers. and to consume this much gasoline. Smart, no. Economical, no. Enviromentally Sound, not really.

The biggest problem with the US is the total lack of leadership coming from Washington. There isn't a single politician on either side of the political spectrum who is making a stand of some sort and encouraging people to make these dinosaurs extinct. Instead they try and use China as a scapegoat for the SUV.
I don't think I have ever seen them use China as a reason to have or excuse the SUV. I have seen them mention China as a potential issue in the coming years with their economic expansion. And of course lets not forget the Kyoto Treaty. The same concern is there as well. Of course China views the Kyoto Treaty, is they were to join as an assualt on their growth rate. This is also matched the fact that, THEY CANNOT STEAL THIS TECHNOLOGY FROM SOMEONE ELSE. Other wise I am sure they would sign it as well.

[Kosh]

They are using it as an excuse to ignore the real reason for the price increases, the SUV's. It is just scapegoating. Has anyone in Washington done any SUV bashing lately? No.

Of course China views the Kyoto Treaty, is they were to join as an assualt on their growth rate

China IS a part of the Kyoto Protocal. They recognize that the environmental degredation is a problem and appear to be trying to do something about it.


EDIT: Don't believe me that China has cut its emissions? Then check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Carbon_Emission_by_Region.png