Will the price of gas in the US ever go back down to January 2020 levels?

[Ms.Minnie]

I’m curious what others think about the future of gas prices and gas-powered vehicles. Do you think the price of gas will go back down to a reasonable level? The prices have gone down a little in the past week in my area. It’s funny to get excited to see the price at $4.91 per gallon when 18 months ago it was around $2 per gallon. I’m trying to decide if I need to get serious about purchasing an EV or hybrid vehicle.

I’m not opposed to EVs or hybrid vehicles, I just don’t think the US is equipped to handle them at this time especially for long distance travel. IMHO we need to have as many charging stations as we have gas stations, especially since it takes longer to charge EVs than it does to put gas in a car. This will be a huge undertaking and will cost a fortune. Who will pay for this? What will be the cost to charge EVs and are there future problems related to the disposal of the batteries with this type of vehicle? What is the resale value of an EV or hybrid vehicle? So many questions, I’m not sure we have answers to these questions since these vehicles haven't been around very long.

I'm really interested to learn what others think. Is it a good time to jump in or would it be better to wait and see? I'm kind of leaning towards wait and see, I'm just not sure...

 

[starry_solo]

No, I don't think so.

18 months ago, we were at the beginning of a pandemic, told to stay at home, people converted to work-from-home so there was no need for gas. Supplies were high, demand was low, so prices tanked.

But then again, we didn't see $2/gallon in CA. I think the lowest we got was $3/gallon. I only got to WFH for 6 weeks, then we were called back into the office part-time (every other day)....

 

[kymom99]

If you travel, you will find many hotels have charging stations. I also saw some at gas stations in Arizona. About 5 years ago I noticed they had them at holiday world in Indiana. They also have them at the national AF museum in Dayton Ohio. They are more common than you might think.

Batteries last over 100k miles. Dead cells can be replaced.

Almost 20 years ago I remember gas being 1.99 in Florida. I thought that was high. In my opinion it’s not reasonable to think gas would be $2 now considering how much the prices of other things have increased. I hope it will go down and I certainly agree it is painful how much it is right now. I can remember when gas prices shot up a number of years ago and everyone unloaded their SUVs for cars with better fuel economy. We do what we have to do to adjust.

There are a number of ways to ride out this surge. Some may buy hybrid or EVs. Many people already have or were planning to. But you don’t have to. Cars today are more fuel efficient than ever. We can also take fewer trips. I know I have. I don’t run out for every little thing anymore.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Back in summer 2008 it was this high, $5 per gallon. I remember well because we took a trip where we flew somewhere and rented a car to make a big road trip with. I had rented an intermediate sedan, and the rental counter tried everything they could to give me a free upgrade to a large SUV, lol. No thanks, I was not interested in 15mpg and especially at those prices.

Anyway, point is, they were this high before and came down. Now, I don't know that it will come down quickly or back to some specific price, but I do think it will happen.

However, my next car will be an EV. I'm ready to make that jump. I am not an early adopter of anything, and at this point I know many people who already have EVs. The charging infrastructure seems adequate and is only going to improve. I will be happy to decouple my vehicle from needing gasoline. But my car is not ready to be replaced just yet, so I'm thinking it will happen in another 2-3 years for me.

 

[CGB]

Gas prices will go back down. We're still dealing with fall out from the massive money printing from the last couple of years, whether stimulus checks or PPP loans. (Seriously, google your zip code and "PPP list" to see how much money flowed into businesses in your town. And then think about the individual stimulus checks that all of us received.). That much free money was bound to raise prices.

Here's some history on average U.S. gas prices (note years 2008 and 2011):
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg&f=w

 

[Kennywood]

The country simply doesn't have the necessary infrastructure to handle all of these new electric vehicles. The grid is already strained with just the additional load of air conditioners due to the hot weather.

Also, now that we're entering a recession, even more people will be unable to afford a new electric vehicle.

Get the technology and the infrastructure in place first. Then, slowly encourage people to consider an electric vehicle if it's affordable. Until that happens, why not continue to encourage hybrid vehicles?

 

[fla4fun]

I’m not opposed to EVs or hybrid vehicles, I just don’t think the US is equipped to handle them at this time especially for long distance travel. IMHO we need to have as many charging stations as we have gas stations, especially since it takes longer to charge EVs than it does to put gas in a car. This will be a huge undertaking and will cost a fortune. Who will pay for this? What will be the cost to charge EVs and are there future problems related to the disposal of the batteries with this type of vehicle? What is the resale value of an EV or hybrid vehicle? So many questions, I’m not sure we have answers to these questions since these vehicles haven't been around very long.

I think there is a big difference between electric and hybrid when it comes to how ready the US is for them. Hybrids have been around much longer, don’t require charging stations for the most part, and have been around long enough to have a proven track record. I mean, the first Toyota Prius was put in production in 1997, so it’s been around a long time. If you want the savings of a hybrid, I don’t see any issues at all.

Electric vehicles also have a similar history, with the EV1 coming out around 1996, but the range of electric cars was a huge challenge in the early cars, so they didn’t catch on Like the hybrids. Range has improved and put the electric car in a much better place to be used for every day driving. Long distance road trips are more feasible now, but you do need to plan ahead and make sure there are charging stations where you will be driving.

I would like an electric vehicle, but I currently have a 2017 Toyota Prius. I bought it new, so I had it before the recent rise in fuel prices. I am pleased that I get over 50 mpg, and I don’t have to look for, or wait for, charging stations. I may consider an electric car in another 8 years or so, when I need to replace it, but I may also stick with a hybrid. My criteria when shopping for the current car was real world mileage above 45 mpg. Next time, that number will be higher.

I believe gas will go down, but I see it going down to maybe $3.00 per gallon, not the lower prices we knew before.

 

[mikehn]

This pendulum swings back and forth all the time. When oil goes back to $50 a barrel, everyone will be trading in their EVs for gas guzzling suvs and trucks. Solar panels, same thing. At $50 a barrel, nobody in their right mind wants to make any investments in renewables. This happens all the time.

 

[mdoc]

I think gas prices will go back down. Maybe not as low as they were a few years ago, but lower than they are now. I also don't think this country is ready for everyone having an electric vehicle. The infrastructure is not there, and I'm not even sure the electric grid is ready for all those EVs.

Another issue is that the range of an EV drops like a rock in cold weather. I have a Volt, which can operate on both electric and gas. My electric range drops by over 35% from summer to winter. Trips that I can easily make in July using the electric motor are impossible in January without using the gas engine. I love my car, and especially running on electric, but at this point I would never want an EV as the only vehicle in my household.

 

[tvguy]

If you travel, you will find many hotels have charging stations. I also saw some at gas stations in Arizona. About 5 years ago I noticed they had them at holiday world in Indiana. They also have them at the national AF museum in Dayton Ohio. They are more common than you might think.

Batteries last over 100k miles. Dead cells can be replaced.

Almost 20 years ago I remember gas being 1.99 in Florida. I thought that was high. In my opinion it’s not reasonable to think gas would be $2 now considering how much the prices of other things have increased. I hope it will go down and I certainly agree it is painful how much it is right now. I can remember when gas prices shot up a number of years ago and everyone unloaded their SUVs for cars with better fuel economy. We do what we have to do to adjust.

There are a number of ways to ride out this surge. Some may buy hybrid or EVs. Many people already have or were planning to. But you don’t have to. Cars today are more fuel efficient than ever. We can also take fewer trips. I know I have. I don’t run out for every little thing anymore.

We stayed at a hotel week before last, and they had put in EV charging stations, but they were on the Disabled Parking slots. I wonder who gets priority, someone with a Disabled placard or someone in an EV?
Most of the Super Walmarts here have EV charging stations. I believe those were paid for with settlement money from Volkswagen's big controversy with their diesel cars being designed to fool smog check machines.
Our daughter bought a Fusion Hybrid 4 years ago and loves it. We bought a Camry Hybrid 2 years ago, we are getting about 49 mpg on average, but actually got 56 mpg on a trip to San Francisco. Our son and DIL are on their third EV. They had reliability issues with the first two. Fiat 500E only had a 70 mile range. Then they got a 2020 Hyundai Kona Electric. Several battery recalls that the dealer really didn't seem equipped to handle. When my son contacted Hyundai, they immediately offered to buy the car back under the Lemon Law. The dealer however was still a mess, and wouldn't cooperate with Hyundai so the buy back took two months. Now they have a Volkswagen ID4.
As for gas prices going down to 2020 levels, if we go into recession basic economics will dictate they will go down. But in many European countries they are still wishing THEIR gas prices were as low as ours are now.

 

[dez1978]

Until the electric companies can stop telling people to keep their ac set at 85 degrees, our grids are not ready for an influx of EVs

 

[longboard55]

The idea we can charge are cars at night and for less cost than gas is appealing, but the batteries are not quite there yet. Too expensive and not a long enough charge. But they are spending billions on r and d to come up with better batteries, so the time not be long. I assume if I buy a car in 5 years it will be electric

 

[tvguy]

Until the electric companies can stop telling people to keep their ac set at 85 degrees, our grids are not ready for an influx of EVs

My wife would die. She sets the AC at 70 at night so she can sleep. But she keeps it at 75 during the day. But so far our daytime solar panel production is exceeding the cost of the power from our electric company for keeping it so cool at night.

 

[RamblingMad]

Nope.

High gas and food prices are here to stay. They might go up as fast in the future. But I don't see them going down.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

When the war with Russian ends or Putin is “dethroned” and when OPEC stops being as greedy as they are right now.

 

[RamblingMad]

When the war with Russian ends or Putin is “dethroned” and when OPEC stops being as greedy as they are right now.

Gas companies love making money when they can.

 

[ronandannette]

Just curious - how much does it cost to charge an EV at a public charging station? Does anybody who has one have accurate records of the costs for charging at home? I would like to know what the fuel costs are, compared to a regular gas engine. One of our vehicles is a self-charging hybrid and it consumes less than half the amount of gas my smaller, theoretically very fuel-efficient vehicle does.

 

[RedAngie]

Down to around $2? I seriously doubt it. I’ll be happy with the $3.50 range.

The other night I saw a Law & Order rerun from about 1997. In the background was a Hess station with a $1.34 price sign. In NYC!!!

 

[longboard55]

I remember how outraged we were when it went up to .69 in the first oil embargo

 

[Kennywood]

I think gas prices will go back down. Maybe not as low as they were a few years ago, but lower than they are now. I also don't think this country is ready for everyone having an electric vehicle. The infrastructure is not there, and I'm not even sure the electric grid is ready for all those EVs.

Another issue is that the range of an EV drops like a rock in cold weather. I have a Volt, which can operate on both electric and gas. My electric range drops by over 35% from summer to winter. Trips that I can easily make in July using the electric motor are impossible in January without using the gas engine. I love my car, and especially running on electric, but at this point I would never want an EV as the only vehicle in my household.

This.