Why is Gas so expensive?

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Originally Posted by AkivaSmith

If there was a design for an engine that could be economically built that got 100 mpg, IT WOULD BE BUILT IMMEDIATELY. Any company that could boast that they had a car that got 100 mpg would sell tens of thousands of them. The oil industry could never squash that. Period.

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That depends. If it got 100mpg and was very expensive, you are completely correct.

However, an affordable 100mpg car would never make it to market. You know why? It would crash oil futures, and have a rippling effect throughout the economy. Right now, we have some cars that get 45mpg... in the history of the automotive industry, we've NEVER seen a car double it's fuel effeciency overnight. It's not for the lack of technology... and it's not for the deep pockets of the oil industry either.

As for the fall of the electric car expressed earlier. He's about half right. He's referring to the EV1, a total electric car that was eventually disbanded and all the vehicles were crushed.

Yes, the oil companies got involved. They, along with the Bush Adminstration, sued the California for allowing the cars on the road. The board responsible for approving the car, eventually reversed its decision and GM didn't fight it, instead decided to crush all of them.

That said, the car had an 80 mile limit on a full charge, and took 20 minutes to recharge. Not exactly a traveling car. So a couple of things are clear: oil companies will do ANYTHING to stop cars that don't run on gas, the US Government clearly will involve itself as well, and finally, GM didn't get "paid off" for the cars, they simply didn't want to fight the government and the oil companies just to sell the 70-some cars they had.

However, none of this matters. With the Tesla Roadster nearly ready for production, along with the up-and-coming ZAP-X there's not much that can be done (since Tesla isn't a US company :D). Although at $100,000 I can't afford the Roadster, but the expected prices of the WhiteStar and the ZAP-X are fairly affordable. Electric is the future, (thanks to AltairNano) but I want the future now!

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Originally Posted by jhall1468

[...]As for the fall of the electric car expressed earlier. He's about half right. He's referring to the EV1, a total electric car that was eventually disbanded and all the vehicles were crushed.

Yes, the oil companies got involved. They, along with the Bush Adminstration, sued the California for allowing the cars on the road. The board responsible for approving the car, eventually reversed its decision and GM didn't fight it, instead decided to crush all of them.

That said, the car had an 80 mile limit on a full charge, and took 20 minutes to recharge. Not exactly a traveling car. So a couple of things are clear: oil companies will do ANYTHING to stop cars that don't run on gas, the US Government clearly will involve itself as well, and finally, GM didn't get "paid off" for the cars, they simply didn't want to fight the government and the oil companies[...]

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Thanks for the clearification. That makes sense, as well as paints a nice picture.

JHall1468 - Thanks, that does make sense about the EV1.

However, no one is willing to refute my simple statement that:

"Allowing for inflation, regular unleaded gasoline is cheaper today then it was in 1980."

Current Gas Prices and Price History



http://zfacts.com/metaPage/lib/zFact...line-Price.gif

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Originally Posted by AkivaSmith

JHall1468 - Thanks, that does make sense about the EV1.

However, no one is willing to refute my simple statement that:

"Allowing for inflation, regular unleaded gasoline is cheaper today then it was in 1980."

Current Gas Prices and Price History



http://zfacts.com/metaPage/lib/zFact...line-Price.gif

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I completely agree. So what's your point?

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

I completely agree. So what's your point?

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Why is everyone :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ing about the price of gas?

I go to the pump buy my gas and keep driving. I have not changed my habits, I make a LOT more money now, then I did when gas was 33 cents a gallon. I drove a VW Beatle then, now I drive a Honda Civic.

I don't care what the price of gas is, and I really get tired of everyone around me complaining about how high it is.

The price of gas is really not that high.

Now if you want to talk about high prices, lets talk about the price of cigarettes! (I quit smoking 24 years ago.)

It says right in your chart that the price increase in the 80's was from the Iran-Iraq war. Not because of supply/demand/cost of refinement. So comparing that price to todays is comparing apples and oranges.

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Originally Posted by AkivaSmith

Why is everyone :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ing about the price of gas?[...]

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I am because there's no good reasons for it to be as high as it is. Gas companies are making record profits and trying to feed us the most ridiculous B.S. about the reasons for the constant increases. I'm glad you make enough money to not care. I know people who make enough money that they can afford to have the airlines confiscate $350 pairs of nose hair trimmers on 3 seperate occasions and not care. I'm not one of them, and I would still complain if Target tried to sell me a pair of Wahl nose hair trimmers for $350 dollars and made up some B.S. about the price of pork bellies in Russia affecting the price of the trimmers. I'm not hurting greatly by the gas prices, especially since I no longer own a car, but what about people in rural areas who need to drive several miles to work a low paying job?

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

It says right in your chart that the price increase in the 80's was from the Iran-Iraq war. Not because of supply/demand/cost of refinement. So comparing that price to todays is comparing apples and oranges.

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I think that you are mistaken.

The "high" price today is because of the US-Iraq war.

NOT a US Oil companies conspiracy, as has been pointed out by several on this thread.

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Originally Posted by AkivaSmith

I think that you are mistaken.

The "high" price today is because of the US-Iraq war.

NOT a US Oil companies conspiracy, as has been pointed out by several on this thread.

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If the high price of gas today is only because we are at war with Iraq, than how are oil and gas companies making record profits? Since the price of crude hasn't risen proportionately with the rising price of gas, if gas prices stayed around $2 per gallon, wouldn't the companies be making roughly the same profits that they were when gas prices originally rose to $2 per gallon? You're the only one calling it a conspiracy. I'm just implying that they are lying about the reason for the high prices, because them making record profits is really one of the main reasons.

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Originally Posted by AkivaSmith

Why is everyone :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ing about the price of gas?

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Because public transportation is not available in my area. Because I can't bike to work. Because I don't make as much money as other people and really do have to budget just to pay for my gas.

Personally, I don't feel it's a conspiracy that has to do with the war, I think it's good old fashioned avarice. I think companies are constantly testing the water to see how much we'll pay... It gets almost unbearably high, then backs down just enough to make us feel comfortable. We're all wiping our brows, going 'whew, that's better', but really we just get comfortable paying more and more, in contrast to the highs we experience this time of year. Just my opinion tho.