$1 Gasoline???

Costco line ups, bare shelves, while nearby smaller retailer have plenty of stock, and gas stations sit idle. Lemming mentality.

 

No offense, but this is a bad idea right now. There are COVID-19 cases in almost all states (the only hold-out is WV, but that will likely change):
Tracking Every Coronavirus Case in the U.S.: Full Map - The New York Times

There is a very good chance that this is going to escalate in the next few weeks. I wouldn't travel anyplace where you don't have access to good medical facilities and/or wouldn't mind being stuck for at least two weeks.

 

Yeah I kept it zipped but was thinking the same thing. Eat at home, go for walks, cool your jets for a couple of weeks, see what shakes out.

 

Yeah, those interested in the details can pop into the Coronavirus thread:
Wuhan Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) | Page 39 | PriusChat

tldr version: Late March, early April is going to be.......rough

 

Which doesn't explain the price stability here.

 

Yep great time to get where you plan to be for the next couple of weeks. I just watched a lot of my business go up in flames; I'm off the road. Nowhere to go and nothing to do until mid-April at the earliest; probably June though.

Meanwhile my wife just got called up for a 4-day trip, starting from an airport in another state. We are packing her (and the Prius) for the worst; we really hope domestic air travel is shut down before she actually goes anywhere so she can just drive straight back home without any community exposure.

 

$2.50 on the jersey turnpike today

 

bring wipes and mask, don't eat anything, don't touch your face. in fact, try not to inhale

 

If you can find less traveled hiking trails (maybe even off-trail), ya should be able to dodge coronvirus air. At least that is what I used to do on the hiking trails here in Washington state. Even drank from thousands of streams & never got sick.

 

Ah.... the best way to avoid coronavirus..... die before you catch it. &

 

I just found a pretty informative pdf from the American Petroleum Institute listing gas taxes by state from lowest to highest. https://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Statistics/StateMotorFuel-OnePagers-January-2020.pdf

CA is 79 cents/gallon total state and federal tax.
PA is 77.1 cents/gallon.
Down here in FL, it's 60.69.
We're all well above the national average of 54.53 cents/gallon, but CA and PA are crazy!!.

OK and TX are 38.4 and NM is only 37.28. 37.19 in MS. MO is just 35.82.
38.41 in LA, 37.4 in AZ.
AK is cheapest at 32.75 cents/gallon.

It's quite a spread!

 

I looked at the documents, but don't know if the number presented cpg (cents/gallon) is fixed number or the value can change as the price of gas changes. So, is it always 79cents/gallon in CA, regardless of the price of the gas being sold? I thought the gas tax is a percentage of the gas price we pay at the pump, just like sales tax?

 

Thanks. But my question is not how the rate is set but Is the tax rate set at "cents per gallon" or "percentage of gallon price"? If is it a fixed cents, then as the price of gas goes up and down the tax amount does not change. But if it is a percentage, the tax amount would go up and down.

 

"The Transportation Funding Act 89 of 2013 eliminates the fixed diesel and gasoline excise tax. State law requires the Oil Company Franchise Tax (OCFT) to be calculated on a cpg equivalent basis and certified annually by the state Department of Revenue(DOR). In no case shall the average wholesale price be less than $2.99 per gallon."

Was about as much as I learned on how the rate was determined. Those are 2019 numbers. The 2020 numbers may have changed. Considering how they do it here, that is the minimum Pa charges.

Federal taxes are a flat rate, but it varies by state. Most seem to be flat, or are like @wjtracy stated. The other taxes for California are a percentage sales tax, so it could vary as the price of gas changes.

 

Thanks for clarifying. So for the Federal Excise Taxes (@ 18.4 cpg) is fixed for all states, but the rest of the tax may vary and change with the price of the gas. Now, I am thinking if the BEV use becomes predominant and if gov shift the taxation from the gas tax to electricity tax to cover the cost of maintaining roads and bridges, it may not be so unrealistic to think in some states, the price can get $1/gal gas and $0.3/kWh electricity.

 

Perhaps, but I think it would be for a limited time.

• The gas taxes in place won't be rescinded
  
• taxes applied to electricity will effect those just using gas
• oil production will drop with such a drop in price

Right now, the current oil price is below what many fracking oil companies need to make a profit. if this continues, they will stop drilling, and production will stop, if they don't go bankrupt. It is the fracked drilling that allowed the US to become a net oil producer. Without it, the market will shift back to how it was before, and Russia and SA will stop flooding the market. Russia because they can't afford it long term, and SA because they need the profit to keep control of their population.

I see your scenario going much the same way. Few oil fields can supply oil that cheaply long term. Most of which are outside the US, and also unfriendly to us.