$1.00 gas by early 2009
When will these levels return?CNBC just reported that the Gulf Oil CEO believes that a gallon of gas could drop to just $1.00 per gallon by early 2009. Part of the OPEC conspiracy?
If car buyers return, will demand for hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, remain as high if gas hits $1.00 per gallon? Is that a stupid question? Or, are Americans that stupid?
Labels: gas prices, Hybrid Vehicles, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
9:33 AM
23 Comments:
What do you mean by stupid? Many of us would call stupid buying a hybrid when gas prices dropped back to $1.
Which was exactly the mentality we had after the last gas crisis. Had we stayed on the path to fuel economy then, we'd be independent of Persian Gulf oil today. We'd be leading the world in battery technology and probably automotive technology. Thus, instead of the Big 3 begging for money, our economy would probably be cruising along. Likewise, the conditions for the 2nd war in Iraq would not have existed. In fact, if not for oil, the first war in Iraq wouldn't have occurred, which would have also prevented 9/11.
Those were the long term consequences of accepting cheap gas without any care to long term consequences.
So, our cheap gas actually cost trillions of dollars. That's what I mean by stupid.
Moreover, gas prices will go back up. How bad will the next energy shock be if we don't take drastic action this time? How many times do we need to go through this cycle before acting differently?
No plug, no deal for me. NEver again will I purchase an ICE only vehicle, unless it runs on natural gas or propane. My next car will either be a bi fuel Cavalier or a Prius with the PHEV conversion...
LB...
Yes I would call people stupid if they didn't buy fuel efficient cars just because it's cheap to drive a gas guzzler.
Do you care about your future? Do you care about your children's future? Are you willing to leverage their lives for yours?
Do you care about the environment? Do you value clean air? Clean water? Do you care about your health? Do you care about polluting less? Using less? Being cleaner? More efficient?
If you don't, then there's no point going on with the conversation. The best I can say if you answer no is don't get in the way of people who do....if you do, then remove yourself from this planet.
NOW....if you answer yes, then it's your duty to do the right thing.
How hard is to drive something fuel efficient? How hard is it to think about your long term future and not just tomorrow? How much longer do you think this world be sustain itself if we continue to think only about our instant gratification?
Besides....the benefits of buying a hybrid are not just to save money of fuel...these cars ARE CLEANER burning. Do people ever take that into account?
In a way it's shame the pollution pumped out of people's cars doesn't affect them more directly. If it did, none of these SUV driving bozos would live beyond a few minutes....not that I'm complaining;)
Americans really are that stupid. I would not be surprised at all if people went back to SUVs....
CHAD...
The powers at be DO NOT WANT to be independent of Persian Gulf oil.
This is a huge scam on us. They are making hand over fist with oil and energy. They are not going to give that up at any cost.
Let's not fool ourselves and think for a moment that OPEC is running independently and the US and other western countries don't have handshakes with these people in OPEC.
That would be naive to the extreme. It would be as naive as thinking the CEO's of corporations in similar industries don't sit down and talk to each other (like the auto and oil firms).
Yes...there are people out there that truly believe such things are crackpot conspiracy theories. I think they are dumb and ignorant to think it doesn't happen.
What's the most amazing thing about all this is people in this country are seeing all this BS unfold in front of their eyes..in plain site, right under their noses. But it's as if people here are in a deep trance...they don't care, they are apathetic, it's normal to them.
That is the scariest thing of all.
Wow don't worry about the environment as far as car pollution. Worry about deforestation and coal power plants. Cars burn clean enough even SUVs and Trucks are fine. Global warming is a form of tax made up by politicians. Many top scientists and meteorologists don't believe in global warming so why should you? Drive a comfortable SUV or Truck, just don't drive as much as you did and the trend of downward prices will continue!
sexy -
let's say you are right about man-caused global warming, although the far majority of scientists disagree with you.
foreign oil dependency isn't a problem? i'm sorry, but how can you be that blind?
SEXY:
Do you think the pollution of a car starts and stops with merely driving it?
What about the production of the car? All the plastics? The fluids that are all toxic? The tires? The metals?
How about the waste it produces in its lifetime? How about the waste produced when it's decommissioned?
Everybody wants to make themselves feel good by merely thinking driving a cleaner car is the answer...or driving less.
Come on...let's get real.
Time for a gas price floor, say $3 a gallon, fund transit (hell, and maybe even the auto bailout) with the difference.
At 390 million gallons a day -- that adds up pretty fast.
If the natural price goes above $3 a gallon, fine -- people demand fuel efficient cars.
we've been supporting that idea on this blog for years. we're with you.
LB's statement is sadly many of the ignourant responses we will have to endour. Also remember these are the first to complain and jump on bandwagons of futile stupidity! I own a full size Tundra with a 5.7 V8. Yes I do but you know what I do with it: I PARK IT!!! Its only for towing THATS IT! If I don't need it I leave it! We all even us guys that need "equipment for the big stuff" have to be responsible!! That means all of us! I drive a scooter 500cc water cooled scooter whenever I can and I comute to work! Me and another coworker drive in a little 1991 4cyl geo and it gets the job done! The scooter gets 61mpg and I feel good driving it as well as have fun with it! I could have gotten a motorcycle but feel at 40mpg that was just stupid I knew I would be doing the better "thing" if I got the scooter. The scooter is not what you may be thinking though its one of those Kymco 500's so it is'nt small, very capable on the hi-way it can do 100mph like nothing too! The point is that "we" as Americans have to get off the pride kick! We aren't the best in the world at everything, we are not the only thing that matters and we have a responsibility to eachother WORLDWIDE! And it starts with each individual at a time! So yes I might have a big machine at home that burns (Really don't beleive the stupid stickers thay put on the windows either) best I ever gotten so far is 15.5mpg! And I'm an autotech of over twenty-five years. We can all make a difference and with the recession finally admitted by all as we "by atrition" get these new mileage concience cars get steadily on the road you would be amazed how we will be out of many oversea's conflicts because we are no longer at a disadvantage / directly affected.LB's aditude is one that gets our future sons and daughters killed quite frankly.Sorry Chad but you don't understand the middle east (this isn't to insult you either) you have to truly understand the middleeast and its issues with the west.9/11 was going to happen even if we were driving full electric whatevers quite frankly. You want something to blame? I suggest you look at MTV / Late night wrestling / Home shopping network etc. I'm sure right now you and others are stunned or confused what I just wrote. Fact is you have to sit back and understand ideoligys that are foreign to Americans. #1 how do you think a muslim man feels when he comes home and his 12yr old daughter is "caught" watching MTV with a half naked blonde American girl "picking out" a guy to date. Think of one of the shows where the best freind is in the big van and the girl is talking to the guy and he's got those infa red sensors telling the best freind in the MTV van watching the monitors. Well this is totaly wrong to the muslim that has just come from the middle east. The women has no "right" to pick ANYTHING! She has to cover up! She is a whore in a bikini! She's wearing eyeliner and makeup! She looks in the guys face directly, she talks down to the guy! There are so many things that are simply not allowed. Our very culter here is so wrong in the middle east. You can't even begin to understand. I work with many of these people and its tough I tell ya...I find so many things I have to explain and the difficulty is amazing. They think that just because a girl wears a tight shirt and looks "sexy" they can maybe just grab her and she'd have no reason to complain or scream. I have to explain that could result in the girl tearing there eyes out and a lawsuit to boot they just look at me like "you must be kidding?" The perceptions and theorys between cultures along with our "non" journalist press these days just makes things much worse off. Look at the stupidity and beleifs behind the destruction in India this past week.Its a wonder we haven't all killed eachother with all the nukes in the world already!Sorry but this is just a short quicky answer I had to respond.
well, i know that LB is the proud owner of a Toyota Camry hybrid, so I think that LB wasn't necessarily speaking about what she would do, but what she thinks others might do.
anon with the scooter-
while i agree with your cultural slam of the MTV generation, I disagree with you regarding the Middle East.
If not for oil, America wouldn't have given one crap about saddam. if not for oil we wouldn't have placed troops in Saudia Arabia - which was the event that pushed bin Laden to focus on America.
the US wouldn't care if everybody in the middle east killed themselves if not for oil. millions and millions have been killed in africa and america hasn't done anything because, economically, it doesn't affect us.
we've made oil the lifeblood of our society and oil has created a huge American footprint in the Middle East - a footprint that is and has been largely one-sided. in fact, bin laden called it the greatest theft the world has ever seen.
I definitely agree with the enviromental awareness and the importance of driving a fuel efficient vehicle to do my part. I must add however that the same mentality, is why this country will end up a follower in the automotive industry. Those people that believe that only foreign companies can build a reliable, fuel efficient vehicle are just as foolish and arrogant as a Hummer driver!! Wake up people, we live in the United States! If the middle east imported vehicles and some hollywood star drove one would you all run out and buy one because it gets better fuel economy than the Malibu Hybrid or Ford Fusion Hybrid???? You probably would!!
wow. i'm not quite sure i'm following you. however, the fusion hybrid isn't even yet available for sale. the malibu hybrid is a mild hybrid.
the fact is, if you want a reliable, fuel efficient vehicle for the city, the Big 3 don't make such a vehicle yet. the fusion hybrid will be the first, yet ford is only going to make about 25,000 of these vehicles.
american automakers have done a crappy job of addressing fuel efficiency, period.
Dahcredyns:
Herd mentality Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items!! That is what I am talking about!! And yes while production will be limited lets talk Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD 29 city 27 hwy, vs Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD 27 city 25 hwy. And there is no significant difference in resale value. The truth is there it is just Pitt....Julia Roberts...Caprio...JLo and many others lead the herd!!
It is not only foolish decisions of the Big 3 that has lead to the struggling detroit woes, it has also been the lack of support from the country it has helped employ for the last 100 years!!
so was is it foolish for americans to buy US-made junk - which current Big 3 execs have admitted they made for decades?
also, the ford escape only seats 5, the highlander hybrid offers a 3rd row of seating, so they aren't similarly sized vehicles. moreover, ford has been selling 25,000 escape hybrids for years now, regardless of demand they have not ever lifted production.
still, hollywood drives the prius, not the highlander hybrid. for those living in hollywood and the greater LA area, a prius can achieve more than 50 mpg in the type of tough congestion that most vehicles don't even achieve 20 mpg.
that's all just herd mentality?
btw - during those crappy years, my family owned all ford vehicles, a pinto, truck, van, bronco 2. the pinto was the most reliable of all of them. the van had a few quality problems, but performed pretty well. the truck died under warranty and to have the engine replaced by Ford. the bronco ii was an incredible piece of junk that spent a massive amount of time in our dealer's garage. yet ford never fully fixed it. in fact, my dad, a lifelong ford owner - even to today - almost stopped buying fords after the bronco ii.
for years the bronco ii worked great for a few months, then it simply wouldn't run at all. ford replaced numerous parts numerous times as that went on for years until my brother gutted it and rebuilt the whole thing with a new engine.
so, since i drive a toyota hybrid that achieves better fuel economy than any US made vehicle, with my experience with US vehicles, i'm just following the herd?
no. i decided that after 9/11 i would do everything i could to reduce my oil footprint, since dependency on oil means dependency on persian gulf oil.
thus, even though i own a hybrid, i mostly take LA's subway system, often at great inconvenience because i feel responsible for my foreign oil dependency. and i do far more than that, but this isn't the venue.
i would love to buy an american-made prius contender. thus far, such a vehicle hasn't existed.
i'm sorry, but ending foreign oil dependency is more important than saving auto jobs that have done nothing but increase foreign oil dependency year after year - even after 9/11. even after 2 wars in iraq. after 9/11 several of the big 3 launched new gas-guzzler plans. that's american?
and, quite honestly, if all americans had my oil footprint, america wouldn't be dependent upon on gulf oil at all.
i don't follow a herd, i live by my beliefs.
so i guess those that buy Big 3 gas-guzzlers believe in foreign oil dependency by your rationale, since they don't follow the heard, but their convictions?
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Dahcredyns:
Herd mentality Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items!! That is what I am talking about!! And yes while production will be limited lets talk Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD 29 city 27 hwy, vs Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD 27 city 25 hwy. And there is no significant difference in resale value. The truth is there it is just Pitt....Julia Roberts...Caprio...JLo and many others lead the herd!!
I'd rather follow a responsible herd mentality than an irresponsible one.
All these assholes who drive around in large, manly vehicles are just as much part of a herd as the ones who these same people call "treehuggers."
What these big macho assholes don't understand is that the other "herd" who actually gives a shit is helping rather than harming.
Herd mentality...please...like soccermoms aren't herd mentality. Like Hummer drivers aren't herd mentality.
Please....spare us your bullshit.
And grow some balls...have as screen name.
I mean, really, herd mentality pretty much defines American cultural life. Marketers succeed because most Americans can be segmented into very specific classes of consumers.
Let's hope commentators and business experts who believe hybrid car sales are down because gas is cheap (for the moment) are wrong. I hope my fellow Americans are more forward-thinking in the major purchases than whether gas is $2.00 or $4.00/gallon. It may be just above $2.00/gallon right now. But we all know as soon as U.S. and world demand rises, pulled from the doldrums as countries come out of the recession, gas is going right back up to where it was.
I think gas prices could still drop significantly, but there is no doubt that they will go up, and they will go up significantly.
Unfortunately, this recession could keep gas prices under control for more than a couple of years, and I really worry that that could retard American concern regarding fuel efficiency.
Thus, when the gas storm follows this calm, once again we'll be terribly under-prepared.
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