When will gas hit $3.00 again, and how high will it go?

That's it? $3.50? I still saw tons of monstrosity class SUVs running around at $3.50/gal in California.

From AAA Fuel Gauge Report, it looks like your averages only got to a peak of $3.968 for regular. Per AAA Fuel Gauge Report it hit $4.588 in San Jose and $4.621 in SF.

 

It looks like it may hit $3.00 per gallon sooner than I thought here in Southern New England.
The price keeps creeping up, to about 2.80 now.

 

Those jobs are now in China and they are driving to work. We import goods and export jobs and pollution.

 

The era of the minivan and SUV is about to end for our family. We traded the SUV for the Prius and I am only keeping the minivan because it is cheaper to keep it at this point. When the minivan goes, we will get a Prius like station wagon and rent a van from Uhaul if we ever need to use a van.

Our fleet average has gone from 17.5 mpg to 33 mpg. Approximately double. And we are poised to take advantage of the recovery and high gas prices if and when the recovery comes.

It is sad to wave goodbye to the ICE only cars. It was a fun ride but it is time for me to get off. Can't afford the gasoline if the price ever goes to $4 - which I think is coming. Going from $3 (now) to $4 (future) is only a 33% increase. So while going from $2 to $3 took a long time, going from $3 to $4 will occur faster and it won't stop at $4 either.

This is exactly what was predicted for peak oil. A series of price shocks and depressions until we all settle on the new reality that oil will be harder and harder to get and high prices are here to stay.

In case you haven't noticed, peak wood has already happened. You can go to a furniture store, pay $1000 for a piece of furniture from a reputable dealer, and, if you look closely, it is a glued from pieces of wood the size of 2 by 4s. The furniture is very good, just big boards are not available anymore.

 

Some resources are getting low due to human population growth. Wood is renewable and fossil fuels are not. The best way to control this problem is to control population growth. Good luck!

 

Well you might as well get used to prices being at that level. That spike back in 2008 was a test IMO, a test to see what we would do as a nation if prices really did jump out of our comfort zones.

What happened? We all still drove even paying $4.25 to $5.25. Basically we gave validation to the oil companies that 'Yep you can go ahead in the future because even at those levels we're still going to use your product.'

Here's a thought for the day. What if that spike, which was very very suspicious, was created in conjuction with the oil companies by the Feds as a test of the strength of the fabric of our nation? But, even more importantly what if it was done for an even deeper reason; to get us to move in another direction. More detailed strategy available.

 

You are absolutely correct but for some strange reason politicians and the news media seem reluctant to talk about this "little problem".

 

3 problems:

1) excessive consumption in the developed/industrial/Western world.
2) a growing middle class in the developing world.
3) population growth in the undeveloped world.

So far, the only real actions being taken are to develop renewable power sources - but not at a rate which can possibly keep up with #1 & #2. And the Bush administration's solution to #3 was "abstinance-only" education.

It will get worse before it gets better.

 

I correct my earlier mistake. When the fleet consists of two cars, a 50 mpg car and a 17.5 mpg car, assuming you drive the two equally, the fleet average is 25.9.

 

And regarding dollar weakness, check this out:
Economy: Is The Dollar As Weak As Conservatives Say? - Newsweek.com

 

Actually, you are understating it. They started a couple of wars to help reduce the population as well. :madgrin:

 

What a statement! Do you *actually* believe that?!

Chuck

 

That was exactly our family's experience.

Our first 2009 Prius replaced my 1998 Sienna and our second 2009 Prius replaced the wife's 2007 Lexus RX350. (She loved the Lexus but is absolutely nuts about the Prius. Me too.)

Our "fleet average" has gone from 22 mpg to 48 mpg and the "smiles per gallon" meter is pegged.

Call me a pessimist* but I think gas prices are on a one-way climb with no end in sight. People buying large, heavy, inefficient cars and trucks are in for a rude awakening (as are the companies producing those vehicles and their investors, lenders, employees, parts suppliers and so on down the line.) Gas prices have risen $1 in the past year and there's hardly a peep about it in the news. What if that trend continues for the next 5 years? 10 years?



*If you're a pessimist long enough, you'll become a prophet.

 

Notice the use of :madgrin:

This is a signal for the humor impaired

:madgrin: = I'm not being completely serious and/or I'm using sarcasm.

 

Many people use thinly veiled humor to soften the blow of controversial views. Hence, my question.

Extreme as it may sound, I've actually heard that theory before.

Chuck

 

I don't think the Bush Administration thought it through that far. :madgrin:

 

Current price in southern PA is between 2.69-2.75 a gallon. I see we are getting a early start this year on raising the prices. Demand from China is also causing the spike in crude. Americans are still driving less. I'm still seeing the big SUV's and trucks on the road with one person in them. Soon they will be seeing their $75.00 fill ups. Does anybody know when Toyota will be coming out with a hybrid minivan?

 

They already did, but you have to move to Japan or Hong Kong to buy one.

Toyota Previa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Yep, precisely why we should go the more accurate 'usage metric' of Gallons per 100 mi driven ( GPC ). Then the math is much easier.

6 GPC + 2 GPC = 8 Gallons to go 200 miles = an Avg of 4 GPC / vehicle.

 

This is marketing and sales at its best. The oil companies and retailers know how to sell their product.

Take a long term look at GasBuddy.com and you'll see that every year prices bottom out during the Holidays. Then immediately after Jan 1 they begin to rise. It's never straight up, gas on the EC won't be $4 / gallon by the end of the month but it goes up, plateaus, goes up, plateaus, goes up, etc, etc. hitting its max for the year around the 4th of July...then it levels off during summer. After Labor day prices begin declining again through the Holidays.

Repeat next year.