California Gasoline Price Spike

[Soviet]

Have you California Leafers noticed the massive spike in gasoline prices in California this week? What did you guys think as you tooled around in your electric cars?

 

[mwalsh]

It hath concerned me not. Well, except for my Step Daughter borrowing my wife's ICE car, and knowing that she'll most likely return it empty!

 

[GlennD]

Since my 1 and only car is my leaf I could care less. It does give me needling ammunition against my co-workers that call my Leaf an electric skate!

 

[JPVLeaf]

Many of us may find this perspective familiar:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/busines...-gas-crisis-makes-electric-car-drivers-smirk/

by Scott Shulman ... With gasoline prices over $5 a gallon in my trendy West Los Angeles neighborhood and some people complaining that Costco is sold out – no gasoline at all – it’s making me and my other alternative fuel friends scratch our heads. Staggering gas prices in the state have forced some station owners to close their doors as recent pipeline problems and refinery fires are causing the state’s gasoline reserves to hit a 10-year low.

We don’t get what seems so totally obvious to us. Why even bother to drive a gasoline-powered vehicle? Why is it that people do not see what is staring them in the face?

What’s known as “range anxiety” in the alternative fuel world – that fear of being stranded with a dead battery or an empty CNG tank is completely over-rated. Most commuters drive MUCH LESS than they think. For the average American city dweller, an electric car is just fine.

People constantly ask me about my all-electric Nissan LEAF, and I always give them the same advice. If you drive around 50-60 miles a day, don’t do a lot of highway or mountain driving, then it is the perfect car. There are many other advantages, like virtually NO scheduled maintenance, and the incredible low cost of driving.

Unfortunately, the media continues to cover electric cars as though they are glorified golf carts, and natural gas vehicles get almost no coverage. When I see my alternative fuel friends here in Los Angeles, we scratch our heads – and wonder – why we still feel like we are driving the best-kept secret.

This morning on www.orangecountygasprices.com, the average regular (87) was $4.636 in Orange County. Apparently, this is a drop from yesterday's high of $4.651. Both broke the OC record set back in summer 2008. About a week ago, regular was about $4.15/gal.

It's amusing to think that if I were still driving our gas car every day, I'd be 'happy' today simply that the prices were jumping by 5 ... 10 cents/gal every time I looked away. As it is, I'm thankful that last night when I got home from work, I pulled into the garage, set my timer, plugged in my car, and this morning I have enough charge for another 70+ miles of driving ... all for a couple of buck$.

 

[rawhog]

I'm feeling the pinch. After a year and a half of complimentary employee charging, (208 volts). I was told I could no longer park there because that parking spot did not conform to the universal parking guidelines. This is after I was told that it was no problem to park in this small lot which already had EV charging capability. So now I am buying that ridiculous gas. All while Sacramento International Airport adheres to the universal employee parking guide. Note that the electrical consumption was not mentioned. That is because they have previously acknowledged that it would cost more to administer than the cost of the electricity used.

 

[Kataphn]

We are being even more attentive to ensuring that the LEAF gets as much use for driving needs as possible so the ICE sits as much as possible.

 

[JimSouCal]

Well, some people are locked into a situation of long driving to from work and they are suffering. Wish that was different.

On the other hand, traffic is lighter, especially at discretionary times, as when gas spikes, people drive less.

In that way, even when an ICE vehicle was my only ride, I kind of hoped for $8 gasoline for many reasons; some magnanimous and altruistic (less pollution, incentive for alternatives), and well, as simply selfish as I can finally go out on a Friday night in WLA and drive faster than I can walk in some areas...