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

[dez1978]

Ours is 77 during the day (except when I'm working out when I drop it to 76/75 for a bit) and 76 for a few hours while we are initially going to sleep. Granted we sleep with a ceiling fan on most nights in the summer.

I think I'm too old for that. Mid 40s, I need it to be waaaay cooler lol

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think I'm too old for that. Mid 40s, I need it to be waaaay cooler lol

lol I totally get it, we do turn it lower when we have guests over. On the other hand when we go over to father-in-law's place his wife has it set to the temp of a freezer it feels like and at least my sister-in-law and I are bundled up, she usually turns it up a few degrees when she knows we're coming over and it's still usually really cold.

In the winter we keep our house cooler too.

We really wouldn't enroll ourselves in some energy program with a utility company which Evergy does have but we probably wouldn't ever be the people they adjust the thermostat on given our temps already in the house lol.

 

[DCLMP]

Everyone keeps saying we don't need public chargers, charge at home.

I don't have a garage. People live in apartments. These folks can't charge at home.

Everyone compares the cost of filling the car with fuel. I didn't have to update anything in my house to drive a gas powered vehicle. How much did it cost to put in the charging system? I would have to have a complete update, I'm in an old mobile home.

How do those in the north who don't have a garage charge in winter? How do you deal with waking up to find the cord running from the house, curving up beside the car, and curving into the car now encased in the 2 inches of ice from last night's ice storm. How do you deal with not being able to unplug your car to get to work in the morning?

Yes, and what about all the people that live in older houses with sketchy electrical systems? Regular car batteries last less than two years where I live due to the extreme summer heat. I wonder how extreme temperatures in either direction would affect these cars.

 

[goofyernmost]

It wasn't all that long ago that it was $4+ per gallon. There is a strong force trying to make it political. It isn't! What it is as opportunistic economic greed by corporations owned and operated by rich people that want to be richer. It usually does go back down again, but every time it has it settled higher than it had been in the past and has been doing that since the oil embargo in the 70's.

As a footnote, it is very disheartening to read so many misinformed posts. Don't believe rumors, just think and use the internet to discover real answers not just ones we want to believe.

 

[goofyernmost]

It probably would not pay off for you, if you keep cars a long time.

Right now, batteries are expected to last in the 10 year range, but that's gonna be dependent on use, charge, and weather year round in your area.

And when you need to change the battery, you'll need to change the car b/c the car won't be worth enough to make the battery change worth it (thus, why electric cars are still so destructive to the environment b/c they are disposable cars in full - they won't reach the average 11.5 years for cars driven on the road)...

Not to mention that electric cars, other then highbred's, still use massive amounts of outside energy to function. It still requires fossil fuels to generate the electricity to charge those massive batteries. That expands the cost of electricity to anyone that owns one. Nothing is free.

 

[kdonnel]

Everyone keeps saying we don't need public chargers, charge at home.

I don't have a garage. People live in apartments. These folks can't charge at home.

Everyone compares the cost of filling the car with fuel. I didn't have to update anything in my house to drive a gas powered vehicle. How much did it cost to put in the charging system? I would have to have a complete update, I'm in an old mobile home.

How do those in the north who don't have a garage charge in winter? How do you deal with waking up to find the cord running from the house, curving up beside the car, and curving into the car now encased in the 2 inches of ice from last night's ice storm. How do you deal with not being able to unplug your car to get to work in the morning?

There are problems that need to be solved, but some of the ones you mention are not as insurmountable as you think.

The average person drives 30-40 miles a day. A 110 outlet will add 32 miles in 8 hours. No need for the majority of people to update their electrical system or install a 220 EVSE.

As for cold and ice, the auto makers heat the charging port to prevent ice build up.

 

[Sinder]

It wasn't all that long ago that it was $4+ per gallon. There is a strong force trying to make it political. It isn't! What it is as opportunistic economic greed by corporations owned and operated by rich people that want to be richer. It usually does go back down again, but every time it has it settled higher than it had been in the past and has been doing that since the oil embargo in the 70's.

As a footnote, it is very disheartening to read so many misinformed posts. Don't believe rumors, just think and use the internet to discover real answers not just ones we want to believe.

8-10% profit margin. That is what these companies make.
What do you think is a "fair" profit margin, should it be much lower than that? Do you think all industries should be the same? If so maybe you should look into what industries make the most- it isn't oil companies.

Rising gas prices are not just tied to one thing and if you think they aren't political then you have your head in the sand.

 

[EMom]

It probably would not pay off for you, if you keep cars a long time.

Right now, batteries are expected to last in the 10 year range, but that's gonna be dependent on use, charge, and weather year round in your area.

And when you need to change the battery, you'll need to change the car b/c the car won't be worth enough to make the battery change worth it (thus, why electric cars are still so destructive to the environment b/c they are disposable cars in full - they won't reach the average 11.5 years for cars driven on the road)...

Thanks. We currently have an 11 year old Toyota with about 110,000 miles on it, so you see the issue. We also live in Texas and the extreme heat wears out normal car batteries much sooner than in a milder climate, so I have concerns about that.

 

[dez1978]

Everyone keeps saying we don't need public chargers, charge at home.

I don't have a garage. People live in apartments. These folks can't charge at home.

Everyone compares the cost of filling the car with fuel. I didn't have to update anything in my house to drive a gas powered vehicle. How much did it cost to put in the charging system? I would have to have a complete update, I'm in an old mobile home.

How do those in the north who don't have a garage charge in winter? How do you deal with waking up to find the cord running from the house, curving up beside the car, and curving into the car now encased in the 2 inches of ice from last night's ice storm. How do you deal with not being able to unplug your car to get to work in the morning?

these people also must travel much either. With kids sports, we regularly end up driving 200 miles each way to tournaments and come home that same night

 

[dez1978]

It wasn't all that long ago that it was $4+ per gallon. There is a strong force trying to make it political. It isn't! What it is as opportunistic economic greed by corporations owned and operated by rich people that want to be richer. It usually does go back down again, but every time it has it settled higher than it had been in the past and has been doing that since the oil embargo in the 70's.

As a footnote, it is very disheartening to read so many misinformed posts. Don't believe rumors, just think and use the internet to discover real answers not just ones we want to believe.

I think its a healthy dose of both of those things.

 

[kymom99]

How is this thread still open

 

[adkkev]

If it were opportunistic greed, then why was the average gas price $3.36/gal. in 2014 but dropped back to $2.60/gal. in 2020. Once it went up, it would have stayed up and risen higher. Also, the latest price hike didn't start with the war in the Ukraine. it started when Joe took the reins and started to ban our oil production. The rise in gas prices helped stoke the overall inflation. If it costs more to get stuff to the stores, the stuff will certainly cost more.

Oil production has not been banned by anyone. Production is controlled by the oil companies and many wells and refineries were shut down when demand dropped dramatically in 2020. It takes time for these things to get up and running again and coupled with a labor shortage in the industry, it isn’t going to be an easy task. Oil companies, like most companies, listen to their investors who want a good return on their investment. So higher prices generally mean higher profits for the oil companies which keeps their investors happy.
And you are correct about the rising fuel costs contributing significantly to the price of all our goods and services.

 

[sam_gordon]

How is this thread still open

Good question. There should be a "pause" button on reading this thread...

OK, I'm ready.

For those who are saying it's because of US leadership, then why are gas prices going up around the world?

 

[lynxstch]

Gas here in Western MD is 'down' to 4.79 a gallon as of this morning..it was up to $4.99 a couple of weeks ago. Sounds ridiculous that we get excited when it comes down just a little~

 

[tvguy]

I wouldn't be sleeping with the AC at 70 over night. If I did get some sleep, I'd have to strip the bed, hang the bedding up to dry and lean the mattress up and get the 2nd dry mattress down to use the next night.

If someone would install a more efficient system for me, I'd be all for it. Until then, the cost would wipe out my closing costs for a house so I set it low to kick on earlier in the morning. 68 setpoint has me coming home from 10 hours of massive humidity and extreme temperature (I wasn't sure I was going to make it home yesterday. I was at the point I was preparing to pass out from the heat) to my AC holding between 70 and 72. If I set it higher so it kicks on later in the day when it's hotter, I come home and it takes all night long with me not sleeping to cool it down from 90° since the AC would be an ice block.

LOL. 40 years ago my wife had to have the house at 85 degrees at night to sleep! Back then she was freezing and I was too warm. Now, she is always too warm, and I'm always freezing. Actually, the 70 degrees isn't bad, it's that the ceiling fan and a/c are blowing that air around making it feel colder.

 

[Planogirl]

Good question. There should be a "pause" button on reading this thread...

OK, I'm ready.

For those who are saying it's because of US leadership, then why are gas prices going up around the world?

World domination don't you know? Never mind the record profits those innocent oil companies are making.

 

[MillauFr]

How do you deal with not being able to unplug your car to get to work in the morning?

The people up north are tough. Don't you know they walk 10 miles to work uphill both ways through knee high snow drifts?

 

[yensid's offspring]

The people running this country are just plain stupid or they own stock in the electric vehicle, solar and windmill companies. As noted above, instead of free parking and meters, every parking space on the street will need to have a charging station. Also, how many charging stations will need to be constructed on the interstates. How much time will I need to waste driving to Disney from Maryland to charge my vehicle.

Further, how stupid is it to stop our country's oil production and then try to buy oil from Venezuela and the Arab states, our "allies". Give me a break.

YES, this

 

[tvguy]

Just back from gassing up. Paid $5.79 a gallon, the lowest it was been in 2 months. Feel like I won the lottery.

 

[Kennywood]

Okay, I have to say this while the thread is still open.

I have a little insight into the oil refinery business. Every year, oil refineries have to shut down certain areas of the plant for maintenance. Last year, primarily due to COVID, the refinery with which I deal had to postpone all of last year's shutdowns until this year. So, this year, the refinery is doing twice amount of work they would normally do.

Believe me when I say, it costs a lot, and I mean a LOT of money to do these yearly maintenance shutdowns.

Contrary to the image that some people might have about oil companies, they're not sitting around like Scrooge McDuck in a vault counting their money. A LOT of that money is poured right back into the refineries, so that they can keep operating. Some of that money also goes to the plant workers in the form of overtime, bonuses, etc.

To those that are ridiculing the oil companies, there's a simple solution. Don't use ANY of their products....ever. That means no oil, no gasoline, no diesel fuel, no plastics, etc. If you want to go all solar, electric, etc, go for it. That's your choice and I fully support your choices. But some of us can't afford those options.