How high do you think gas prices will go?

[kdonnel]

Wow, even at 14k that is above average. We live 13 miles out of town, but we have everything we need close by in the suburbs. Prior to the pandemic we would make a few trips to visit a friend who lives 150 miles away. But much further than 150 miles my family insists on flying.

14k is barely above average.

The US national average is 13500.

https://www.metromile.com/blog/average-miles-driven-per-year-by-americans/

 

[dez1978]

14k is barely above average.

The US national average is 13500.

https://www.metromile.com/blog/average-miles-driven-per-year-by-americans/

I have never in my life been able to drive under 20k a year. Not even in 2020 I don't think lol

 

[sam_gordon]

Wow, even at 14k that is above average. We live 13 miles out of town, but we have everything we need close by in the suburbs. Prior to the pandemic we would make a few trips to visit a friend who lives 150 miles away. But much further than 150 miles my family insists on flying.

We push 20K each/year on two vehicles. Of course both of us work ~25 miles away from home, plus added mileage schlepping kids.

Insisting on flying when it's more than 150 miles? Seems like an extra expense (that I didn't think you'd like) in money and time. 250 miles would be ~ 3 1/2 hours. Drive to the airport, arrive 90 minutes prior to flight, flight, deplane, get bags, get to destination would probably take longer AND cost a whole hell of a lot more.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Yeah, averages in driving don't mean much...you probably have groupings in the low and high end, rather than a ton at the average...

As for us, we drive 3K miles on each of our 2 cars per year...during Covid, it was 1K each...electrical car "gas savings" would never pay for our cars...

And the low mileage is why I can keep cars for almost 20 years if the electrical doesn't blow - that's always the only thing that dies in pretty much anything I have (my last car, my washer/dryer, my dishwasher) - if I could eliminate electrical features, I would...I can't remember the last major purchase I had break that wasn't an electrical issue...

 

[tvguy]

We push 20K each/year on two vehicles. Of course both of us work ~25 miles away from home, plus added mileage schlepping kids.

Insisting on flying when it's more than 150 miles? Seems like an extra expense (that I didn't think you'd like) in money and time. 250 miles would be ~ 3 1/2 hours. Drive to the airport, arrive 90 minutes prior to flight, flight, deplane, get bags, get to destination would probably take longer AND cost a whole hell of a lot more.

Averages are interesting. You are above average, but people like my mom who drove 3,000 miles year before she retired and 1,000 miles a year after retiring pull the average down. Actually, with Southwest Airlines, flying can cheaper.

 

[Kestryl]

It was $3.09 yesterday here.

I remember paying $4/gallon back in 2010/2011 when I had just started a long distance relationship. That sucked. I’ve moved states since then, but my new state vs that old state are usually within about 10 cents of each other.

 

[tvguy]

14k is barely above average.

The US national average is 13500.

https://www.metromile.com/blog/average-miles-driven-per-year-by-americans/

I suspect the will be down drastically when the latest figures are released. But it is interesting that most Auto Insurance Companies like Metromile charge extra for those who drive about 12,000 miles a year.

 

[kdonnel]

I suspect the will be down drastically when the latest figures are released. But it is interesting that most Auto Insurance Companies like Metromile charge extra for those who drive about 12,000 miles a year.

It will bounce right back.

Things have been back to normal horrible traffic wise for a year here in Georgia where the average is 18000+ a year.

 

[tvguy]

It will bounce right back.

Things have been back to normal horrible traffic wise for a year here in Georgia where the average is 18000+ a year.

Not sure here. Our Downtown is still dead since most state workers are still working at home. And at least the state agency my son works for isn't even going to meet again to discuss ending remote working until after January. But to be honest, I suspect if gas prices stay the same they are, people are going to cut their driving.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

All this talk about electric vehicles is making me uncomfortable. Keep that Commie subversive stuff away from me!! High polluting fossil fuels all the way!!!

 

[MillauFr]

All this talk about electric vehicles is making me uncomfortable. Keep that Commie subversive stuff away from me!! High polluting fossil fuels all the way!!!

LOL - I never understood how some can spout off nonsense about electric cars being some commie plot. Musk is about the exact opposite of that doing battle with California politicians. Wouldn't the conservative elements be cheering him on and lining up to buy Teslas?

 

[kdonnel]

LOL - I never understood how some can spout off nonsense about electric cars being some commie plot. Musk is about the exact opposite of that doing battle with California politicians. Wouldn't the conservative elements be cheering him on and lining up to buy Teslas?

Musk is very polarizing. You are only allowed to worship or hate him. There is no middle ground.

 

[RamblingMad]

LOL - I never understood how some can spout off nonsense about electric cars being some commie plot. Musk is about the exact opposite of that doing battle with California politicians. Wouldn't the conservative elements be cheering him on and lining up to buy Teslas?

Nope. You're statistically more likely to be conservative if you drive a truck.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...view-can-reveal-a-lot-about-your-neighborhood
I'm not going any further down this rabbit hole other than what the research says about vehicle buying preference.

So I'm going to buy a pick-up truck and put all of the stickers that Prius drivers put on their vehicles on the pick-up. It will blow up Google's Algo

 

[tvguy]

LOL - I never understood how some can spout off nonsense about electric cars being some commie plot. Musk is about the exact opposite of that doing battle with California politicians. Wouldn't the conservative elements be cheering him on and lining up to buy Teslas?

I don't get the Musk-California battle. Okay, he doesn't like California business practices, but California is the only state requiring all new cars sold after 2035 be electric. Of course, since we already don't have enough capacity to produce enough electricity in the summer and have rolling blackouts, not sure where they electricity to charge all those cars is going to come from.

 

[RamblingMad]

I don't get the Musk-California battle. Okay, he doesn't like California business practices, but California is the only state requiring all new cars sold after 2035 be electric. Of course, since we already don't have enough capacity to produce enough electricity in the summer and have rolling blackouts, not sure where they electricity to charge all those cars is going to come from.

His moon base.

 

[chickapin parterre]

never...folks continue to go over neighborhood speed limits, construction zone speed limits, school zones....they burn rubber up to red lights and then accelerate to the next red light. Gas will never be high.

 

[_19disnA]

Musk just likes being in the limelight and says/does a lot of things to draw attention to himself. He strikes me as more of a carnival barker then effective business executive. At times it seems like no one is in charge at Tesla or the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Remember when Musk said you could now buy Tesla's with bitcoin?...........then shortly after that changed his mind due to the energy intensive mining process? Or the whole mess with Hertz buying Tesla's as rental cars? Musk recently said no agreement has been signed, but yet Hertz said they plan to pay list price so there wouldn't really need to be any signed contract.

 

[MillauFr]

He strikes me as more of a carnival barker then effective business executive.

That depends on what you think qualifies someone as an "effective" executive. The #1 goal of most boards of directors is for the CEO to increase shareholder value. I can't think of many other CEO's are doing a better job of that than Musk.

 

[MillauFr]

Nope. You're statistically more likely to be conservative if you drive a truck.

Don't disagree but that makes no sense when you think about it. Look at Ram Trucks. The development and manufacturing are controlled by a French/Italian conglomerate based in the Netherlands. I doubt those executives share the values of the buyers. You would think those buyers would gravitate towards someone like Musk who shares their beliefs.

 

[dvcgirl67]

Musk is very polarizing. You are only allowed to worship or hate him. There is no middle ground.

Well...he's a total tool....but, he makes a hell of a product. I'm definitely someone who has had to put aside my feelings for Musk to find a kind of middle ground in order to purchase his car. I put him a bit in the Steve Jobs category. Jobs was also known to be a real jerk at times. And my house and life are littered with apple products. I have neighbors around the corner who are as liberal as you can possibly be. They're also both on our town's environmental committee. And they were very early adopters of the Tesla S...like one of the first 500 sold. They still have that S, and just got a blue Tesla Y. So, they're able to put up with Musk's shenanigans. I believe that the liberal inhabitants of Silicon Valley have also made a truce of some kind with Musk. From what I understand, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Tesla. I feel like it's getting that way in my neck of the woods where the number of Teslas on the road has really gone up.