Poll: Will Gas Hit $5/Gal by 4th of July?

[Perfectlap]

well the cars will be expensive at first. How much did you pay for your first laptop?
I paid $4,500 and that wasn't even the high end of the IBM line at the time. Today you can get a 10X's more powerful laptop at Costco for $400. If no one buys in the begining because new tech is expensive then how will the manufacturers ever get back their R&D and evetually make $40K electric vehicles that will cost $25K? Just wait until gas is raising the price of everything and those electric vehicles will be on the top of the list instead of SUVs.
Also, that's not the only way to put your money where your mouth is. There is now a gloabl x litihium ETF (LIT) that is up $16 to $22 in one year. With the nuclear disaster in Japan the push toward non-nuclear alternative to oil will only ramp up.
Tech needed to produce electric and hybrid vehicles will be in huge demand. The Chinese are already threatening to block the sale of our electric vehicles in their markets if we don't "share" in these technologies. Those electric car guys are going to have the last laugh. It's such a no brainer when you consider how short the average commutte is for an American motorist. we can easily meet those mileage requirements in the short term.
Back in the 1930's after the stock market crash a famous investor bought every stock that was selling for $1 in a panicked market. He made a lot of money when investors realized the value. If you bought one share of every company involved in creating electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and the battery tech needed to make them run and simply watched the movement of those stocks over the long run you'd have a front row center view of a game change that is now in the works.

[Brucelee]

Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.

In the long run, we are all dead.

[thstone]

As more people buy e-cars, demand for electricity goes up and then the power companies will increase the price per kwh and since there is even less competition in electicity than in oil, you're stuck paying whatever they charge.

And what energy source is going to power all of those electric generators to make all of the electricity that powers all of the e-cars? Fossil fuels.

Net gain: zero.

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by thstone

As more people buy e-cars, demand for electricity goes up...

This is actually good news for me since I've taken on a part-time job with a local energy brokerage firm here in Houston. And while demand may go up, competition increases as well in the growing deregulated marketplace. Texas is deregulated and now PA is too. (BTW, PM me if you read this and want a quote!) <-- shameless plug.

Originally Posted by thstone

And what energy source is going to power all of those electric generators to make all of the electricity that powers all of the e-cars? Fossil fuels.

True, but most of the electricity we get down here in the south is from natural gas (80% anyway), not coal or crude, and it's plentiful and cheap and burns far cleaner than other fossil fuels.

Moreover, I watched a report on the guy who was one of the first Leaf owners in the country. He stated that his 1 hour round trip daily work commute plus running errands on Sat/Sun was costing him a whopping $15 in electricity each month compared to a couple of hundred bucks a month in gasoline when he owned his Corolla.

I actually think electric cars for commuting are a good idea. We can create electricity with domestically procured natural gas and tell OPEC to screw themselves.

What I will miss most is the sound of a beautifully tuned exhaust.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by thstone

And what energy source is going to power all of those electric generators to make all of the electricity that powers all of the e-cars? Fossil fuels.

Net gain: zero.

you seem to be discounting the effect that rising crude oil prices have on virtually every single consumer product....in a consumer economy.
Meanwhile the long term trend in wages and job growth has been going in the opposite direction for a decade now. All that "Made in China" was going to take its toll sooner or later..well here we are. 1 million applications for 50K recent McDonalds job openings. If electricity use goes up we will be in a FAR better position to work with that than oil. If anything it will open the door to create more efficient ways to produce electric power, if we can keep China from stealing that away too. Point is we are WASTING trillions of dollars on oil. Just imagine if everyone in America was using energizer batteries in the cell phones, laptops and Ipods instead of rechargeables. That's what we are doing with oil. Time to switch the railroad track in a new direction.

[thstone]

Didn't make it. Here are the prices at my local station on July 4th ...

[RandallNeighbour]

Wow that's high. I just filled up with 93 at a Chevron for $3.89 a gallon.

[MUSSO]

try the UK for fuel
about $7 a gallon
you lucky lads in the USA :dance:
musso

[RandallNeighbour]

Musso, your fuel is outrageously priced because of taxes, not actual fuel cost. Take out all the pounds going to the royal till and your fuel prices are actually quite competitive with those found in the USA.

[MUSSO]

you lucky lads :dance: