[Petersweeney]

Originally Posted by chrisinva

6 year old Prius - 55 mpg around town, 60-65 mpg on highway. Not for sale.

Larry David

[billethkid]

This too shall pass.
The US has options to turn on, AGAIN, to approach energy independence.

It will only happen when it becomes an agenda advantage for the party in power.

If you still think those elected to office are representatives of the people......enjoy the wishful thoughts!!

[blueash]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Not directed to me, but...

Fully 60% of electricity in America is generated with fossil fuels. Of this amount 38.3% is from natural gas, 21.8% comes from coal. Nuclear comes in at 18.9%. 20% is generated with "renewables", including wind (9.2%), Hydroelectric (6.3%), Photovoltaic (2.8%) and Solar (2.8%). The rest (each under 1%) comes from various sources such as landfill gas, wood, etc. (U.S. Energy Information Administration website, tools - FAQ)

Ok, thanks. So the statement that most of US electricity is from coal was wrong. 22% is not most and is only equal to the amount produced by renewables. Here is the link for those who want to see the actual data

HERE

The data presented are from 2021 and does NOT include solar production from small sources like home units. That adds 49 billion KWh to US production. The chart shows that industrial solar is 112 billion, and if you add the 49 billion you can see that solar is greater than coal going forward. If only we invested the hundreds of billions we have given to big oil in a Manhattan project effort to improve solar technology and battery storage we and Europe could not be economic hostage to OPEC and Russia.

For those who claim that if only we would drill more, it has everything to do with big oil profits. If price per barrel is low, they won't use the drilling rights they already have, 9000 unused leases that are not profitable with lower prices. For those who say if only we had more oil production now than we need, just look north. Canada is awash in extra oil. So much oil that they export millions of barrels per DAY to the US. Does having lots of extra oil mean that gas prices are low in Canada. No it does not. Canada sells its oil on the international market. Oil companies in Canada buy their oil on the international market.

The price of a gallon of gas in Ontario Canada has increased by 1.24 US dollars between Nov 29 21 and Mar 7 22. It is now 5.79/gallon [yes I converted liters and dollars]
The price of a gallon of gas in Florida has gone up from 3.36 on Nov 29 21 to 4.08 on Mar 7 22, an increase of 0.72. What do you conclude from this?? I conclude that have an over-supply of oil in one's own country does NOT buffer the price you pay at the pump. Being an exporter simply means that you make money on a product when the price is high.

But don't let real, easily googled facts get in the way of a strongly held opinion, see my sig line.

[Nellmack]

I traded in my first electric car after driving it for 7 years and 135,000 miles. The battery degraded (lost charge) by about 10 miles over 7 years, not too bad. When I bought the car it had a maximum range of 240 miles. My new electric car has a range of almost 400 miles which equates to about 5 hours of driving. After driving for 5 hours I need a 40 minute break so my car is perfect for me, especially on long drives. My new car was expensive to purchase (I love the features and I'm ok with the price) but it has virtually zero maintenance and I charge it at my house or office and I don't even notice the blip on my electric bill.

Most people are stubborn and will never try driving an electric vehicle. I get it and I respect that but I guarantee that their children will try it and I guarantee they will own an electric vehicle in their lifetime. Unless of course they are equally as stubborn. There are a lot of EV incentives and you don't have to worry about fluctuating gas prices.

[Blackbird45]

Even though I can afford gas we have to find an alternative fuel and I don't think electric is fully ready for primetime, but this county has to start getting self-reliant. The Saudis chop up a reporter and we ignore it. Putin attacks a country, and we have to be dragged to the table to stop oil imports. We have to come up with a solution or all of us will be slaves forever.

[Number 10 GI]

Originally Posted by blueash

I am confused, completely utterly confused. Are you saying that we don't subsidize oil exploration and extraction? Are you saying that coal is the source of most of the electricity in this country? Can you perhaps provide me with links as to how much electricity is coal generated, and how little the US taxpayer has given the gas and oil industry in the last few years? That will help my confusion. I'll check back.

Why don't you provide the sources that refute his argument.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by Nellmack

Most people are stubborn and will never try driving an electric vehicle.

I am not sure that stubborn is the reason. There are many, many other reasons why a different lifestyle will keep a person from buying electric.

My son has one, and he loves it, but again, its only for around town, not for long distance travel. Too much planning for recharge stations and availability which can potentially make reaching the destination on time for an event less certain. Also the small size means that he can't bring all the trip necessities, which also makes the EV impractical

I won't as the cost increase of the car overwhelms the fuel savings, so financially, it doesn't make sense. 20K miles per year * 20 mph * $4 gal = $4K per year in fuel. so if you drive less than 20K per year, the annual cost per fuel is even less.. ..

So to spend more than $20K more per vehicle, which equals $2K savings at 10K miles annually x 10 years, the financial decision is not optimal.

[Toymeister]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

But, it made and produced by fossil fuels.

By this he is referring to this vehicle.

This is also true for the much vaunted electric vehicles.

[blueash]

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI

at 10:09 AM Why don't you provide the sources that refute his argument.

Why don't you provide the sources that support his argument. And see the post from 9:49 AM, which was 20 minutes before your comment, for a start on your research.

[Garywt]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Sounds about right. Our Yamaha (2013) is in that range.

But how much energy is wasted, not because of the vehicle but because of the operator? How many times have we seen cars speed up when nearing a line of cars stopped at a red light, then hit the brakes for a rapid slowdown so as not to rear-end the car in the back of the line? I see it all the time. It takes more energy to set an object in motion than it does to keep it in motion, and depending on the mass (and thus the inertia) of the object in question, a LOT more energy. So you burn gas to increase speed, only to burn your brake linings to get rid of it. Not such a big deal in a golf cart, but if you're herding some behemoth down 466, it can be a very big deal and can add a lot to the total the next time you gas that behemoth up.

Some people don't think.

If approaching a light or something I much prefer to get to the line of cars to be able to stop to give more time if I want to do something like drink something or look for something. Better to do things when stopped vs while driving. If I am behind someone who leaves a gap and takes lots of time to get to the line of cars, I then can’t do what I planned. To me I’d rather stop then save a penny or two.

[Blackbird45]

Originally Posted by Pat La Rosa

It is amazing that no one thanked our president for making gas affordable to all the millionaires. What about the poor people that have to drive to work everyday who have 2 or 3 kids to feed and pay for their education when they graduate from high school. I remember when the Democrats were for the working class. Do you???? I will not mention who I voted for but I wish he was our President now. We would not be in the mess we are in. Just saying.

This is not a political issue. It wouldn't matter who is president. If your looking to blame anyone look in the mirror. All the problems we face usually are self inflicted. We want cheap products we buy from foreign countries. U.S. companies move offshore to survive the computation and keep their stock prices high. On and on, then we complain there are no job, so we look around to blame someone other than ourselves.

[PugMom]

i love my guzzler & wouldn't give Alfred up for all the $$ in the world, simply because they don't make these kind of cars anymore. everything is compact, fiberglass & similar to riding in a tin can, -hardly the safest feeling while doing 70 on the highway trying to keep up with traffic. he gets around 22-24mpg & uses premium.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Blackbird45

This is not a political issue. It wouldn't matter who is president. If your looking to blame anyone look in the mirror. All the problems we face usually are self inflicted. We want cheap products we buy from foreign countries. U.S. companies move offshore to survive the computation and keep their stock prices high. On and on, then we complain there are no job, so we look around to blame someone other than ourselves.

Ourselves= 1%er. Millions don’t get to make those choices. Agree, we will be our downfall and that downfall coming.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by blueash

Why don't you provide the sources that support his argument. And see the post from 9:49 AM, which was 20 minutes before your comment, for a start on your research.

I wouldn’t trust Google, they are invested in the research.

[MartinSE]

I see we are now going to stop buying Russian Oil at least until Ukraine issue is resolved. I an not interested in if that is good or bad, it just is. The impact, from the reliable sources (to me) that I can find are that gasoline prices are about to "SOAR". The $5/gal we have been discussing could easily be something we look back at and call the "good old days" - real soon now. Suggestions of car pooling for grocery shopping etc and now being seriously considered.

My wife and I have been putting off getting a Tesla until we needed the self driving (which I think will be no more than 5 years from now - based on my ability to drive) and today we sat down to seriously discuss getting a used one.