At $4/gallon us Yanks have it good

[Scotsman]

compared to our european counterparts....

Motoring is fast becoming a luxury, says Gavin Green

By Gavin Green

28 May 2008 12:17

‘Driving in the US becomes a luxury’, says an article in the FT, complete with doleful quotes from a Houston-based woman who can no longer afford to refuel her monstrous Ford Expedition (a giant 4x4 that makes a Hummer look like a Mini). Now that petrol in America costs almost $4 a gallon, it costs her $70 (about £35) to refill her freeway freighter.

The other day, while driving a Range Rover TDV8 in the UK, I forked out £95 ($190) on a tank of fuel – the most I’ve ever spent at a petrol station forecourt. That came as a shock. I know of plenty of people in the UK who, like the Houston Expedition-driver, have cut back on their driving. The story is similar throughout the western world.

Yet sales, and the use, of cars in China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Brazil, the Middle East and other ‘developing’ (euphemism for ‘poor’) countries boom. While motoring becomes a luxury in the rich world, it increasingly becomes everyday in the emerging markets. This, to quote Churchill, strikes me as a ‘riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’.

In America, I have little sympathy for the Houston lady and her horrible Expedition: petrol has been absurdly cheap in America for too long and it’s about time the Yanks began to look beyond their tarmac tanks. Four bucks a gallon still strikes me as a bargain. Let them drive Priuses and repent.

But in the UK we are being cynically taxed off the roads, as politicians try disingenuously to save the planet while lining treasury pockets. It’s not just fuel tax: it’s sales tax, road tax, congestion tax, parking tax, gas guzzler tax and soon road usage tax.

In the UK, petrol costs twice what it does in India, Japan or the Czech Republic, almost three times the US price, and nine times what it does in Qatar. Same crude oil, same refinery techniques, same oil companies. The UK now has the world’s most expensive petrol. This is not a riddle or a mystery: rather it’s a rip-off wrapped in a swindle inside a scandal.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Communi...s-Gavin-Green/

[boxmonkeyracing]

yep but let me guess you can drive across england and back in one day. . .how much gas do you need? lol. either way I'm not complaining too much other then why the heck is it still going up? there's no reason. other then greed right now. but oh well.

[NOODLESgoneWILD]

Don't worry, we aren't that far behind you! By next time this year...Im betting it'll be $6 a gallon or more!

[Mr. Wyndham]

Two totally different situations/circumstances, Europe and the US. I don't wanna hear how not-bad they feel for us. (No offense to any Brits we've got on the boards)

They've got mass-transit. We don't. We could fit all of Europe and then some in our country...it won't work visa versa. I said it before, we need to adapt to OUR needs, not Europes. And drawing comparisons between the two regions isn't fair, or accurate in the least.

Sure, that lady doesn't need to drive her tanker; and I agree...but this gas thing is hurting the whole country, not just her. Think...truckers, which means food and other items which means EVERYTHING gets more expensive, as our pay rates don't go up to compensate. I don't wanna hear it from them.

.....and don't even get me started on the Prius comment...

[GSX]

Prius... argh..... soo ugly and slow. And also America was developed not on a small Island like the UK but over a much larger area. And some places here don't even have good transit systems here (at least in North Carolina). Without my car I can't even get to school let alone any grocery stores. And there is no way that I'm going back to drive a fuel economy car.

The only positive thing I can see about these High gas prices is that It will make importing goods from other countries more expensive. Thus making more goods back in the USA at least.

But don't get me wrong I despises these high gas prices. It just adds onto the burden of being a College Student. (we're already broke as it is already)

[Scotsman]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Two totally different situations/circumstances, Europe and the US. I don't wanna hear how not-bad they feel for us. (No offense to any Brits we've got on the boards)

They've got mass-transit. We don't. We could fit all of Europe and then some in our country...it won't work visa versa. I said it before, we need to adapt to OUR needs, not Europes. And drawing comparisons between the two regions isn't fair, or accurate in the least.

Sure, that lady doesn't need to drive her tanker; and I agree...but this gas thing is hurting the whole country, not just her. Think...truckers, which means food and other items which means EVERYTHING gets more expensive, as our pay rates don't go up to compensate. I don't wanna hear it from them.

.....and don't even get me started on the Prius comment...

Well said, well said. Don't shoot the messenger. In all honesty I think the author is quite ignorant to what you just stated; we're not the same and we depend heavily on transportation and PT just isn't going to work over so big a land mass as the U.S. Seems like the rest of the world has it out for us and will take any jab/slight towards us because somehow "they deserve it".

[GSX]

Originally Posted by Scotsman

Well said, well said. Don't shoot the messenger. In all honesty I think the author is quite ignorant to what you just stated; we're not the same and we depend heavily on transportation and PT just isn't going to work over so big a land mass as the U.S. Seems like the rest of the world has it out for us and will take any jab/slight towards us because somehow "they deserve it".

[Mr. Wyndham]

"Well said" back to you, sir. I would never shoot the messenger, I hope it didn't come off that way. If so, I'm very very sorry.

Frankly, I'm sure the rest of the world would love to take a nice swat at the face of our country: Our leadership...(And no, I'm not just talking about the president...). Can't say I blame them -- but seriously, wake up and smell the exhaust...

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Two totally different situations/circumstances, Europe and the US. I don't wanna hear how not-bad they feel for us. (No offense to any Brits we've got on the boards)

They've got mass-transit. We don't. We could fit all of Europe and then some in our country...it won't work visa versa. I said it before, we need to adapt to OUR needs, not Europes. And drawing comparisons between the two regions isn't fair, or accurate in the least.

Sure, that lady doesn't need to drive her tanker; and I agree...but this gas thing is hurting the whole country, not just her. Think...truckers, which means food and other items which means EVERYTHING gets more expensive, as our pay rates don't go up to compensate. I don't wanna hear it from them.

.....and don't even get me started on the Prius comment...

Hmmmmmm.:seesaw:To play devils advocate or not?



there are a couple reasons why the Euros have a decent mass transit system.
1) they plan urban areas such that mass transit is a viable means of transportation.
2) they use gas taxes to fund public transit, killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

The general population density of Europe isn't too different from the eastern United States. Therefore, mass transit solutions implemented there could be adapted to work well for you. That includes highspeed rail going from city to city. Does it involve building new infrastructure? Yes. The Euros had to do that too, the continent wasn't created with rail lines prebuilt and busses running around in wild herds (which would have been awesome to see though!). They have a good mass transit system because they planned to have it and for people to use it. Do Europeans make significantly less money than Americans, preventing them from buying cars? No. Do they all work from home? No. Are their cities devoid of roads? No. So there doesn't seem to be much preventing them from using cars: they have the same basic transportation needs as any of us do. But due to a number of factors they figured out a way to get where they want without relying on cars.

As far as high gas prices hurting everyone I'm not going to say they don't but rather ask this question: whose fault is that? Production of raw materials and food, as well as manufacturing used to be relatively local operations. Now each area focus more and more on one thing becoming more dependant on other regions to do their job so that everyone can have something. This has extended byond national borders too. Locally produced goods hardly exist anywhere. The system works well with low transportation costs but when they go up, there is big trouble. Farmland gets turned into suburbs, factories are torn down to build office complexes. That stuff is hard to undo. Something to keep in mind that hasn't really been mentioned here before.

Oh, and I'm gonna start you on the Pruis too. It is a good little car that does what its designed to do quite well. It is not for everyone, and 7 people in that giant Ford would use less fuel than those same people each driving a Prius, but that doesn't matter. Prii(?), love em or hate em, have had a massive impact on the automotive world. Because of them, the notion of a Hybrid Camaro isn't completely insane. And it has forced GM to produce the Volt, something which I doubt they would have done otherwise.


Again, I am playing devils advocate so I may or may not agree with anything I just said.

[stovt001]

In a way they have a point, but there are a few counterpoints: all of the UK is smaller than Canada. All of Europe is smaller than the US. It is simply harder to rack up miles driving in Europe. And as others have said, there are more alternatives to driving in Europe. Also, saying filling up for $70 is like filling up for 35 pounds in England isn't quite accurate because the exchange rate isn't fully reflected in our gas prices.

Now on the other hand, we will have to become more like the Europeans: we'll need to develop more public transportation options. We'll need to adjust our living arrangments to travel and commute shorter distances. We'll need to be smarter about matching the cars we buy to our needs. We'll have to think even more outside the box, and make more use of telecommuting, 4/10 work weeks, etc.

[willisit]

Um, I hate to break it to you but our "mass transit system" (I assume you mean the trains/buses?) are a complete and utter disaster. My girlfriend has to drive 30 miles to work in the morning - it takes her between 30 minutes (60 miles an hour) and 90 minutes (do the math :P ). Anyway, to take "mass transit" (I'm still assuming you mean a train!) it'd take her nearly 3 hours. 3. Hours.

Europe.. now, THERE is a public transport system I can get on board with - Paris, Barcelona - all BRILLIANT. So easy to use, so quick and so damned cheap! Ours? Shocking.

So, we can either take hours to get anywhere and pay through the nose, or use our cars and get taken over a barrel at the pump. <shrugs>.

I'd like to point out that I'm not complaining. It's my choice to live here (so far anyway) and I'm reasonably proud to call the UK my home - but I expect I'll be headed your way in the not so far future

And if you read that article up there and relate it to the Camaro you can see why it won't sell here either.

[Rock36]

See I don't like when people start saying how great we have it compared to our European counterparts.....

While at $4/gallon we are still far below places like here in Germany, I think it is often used as an excuse to charge even higher prices. It is just a way of saying, "suck it up you can still pay more for gas." Which is

The important thing to think about is that gas prices have nearly doubled in the United States over the last two years.

Fuel prices here in Germany and other European nations certainly have not doubled in the last two years. That is the F'd part of the situation in the States.

[GTAHVIT]

Originally Posted by Rock36

See I don't like when people start saying how great we have it compared to our European counterparts.....

While at $4/gallon we are still far below places like here in Germany, I think it is often used as an excuse to charge even higher prices. It is just a way of saying, "suck it up you can still pay more for gas." Which is

The important thing to think about is that gas prices have nearly doubled in the United States over the last two years.

Fuel prices here in Germany and other European nations certainly have not doubled in the last two years. That is the F'd part of the situation in the States.

+1

I was talking about this with friend yesterday. He was saying the U.S. was finally getting what we deserved with gas prices.

So I answered him by basically saying; Yes, we in the U.S. are seen as whiners for getting in an uproar about the smallest tax increase, or even the sound of gas prices going up. But, that very uproar is why we have lower gas prices here (among other factors for sure). I see it as more intolerance than whining. As a country when we get fed up we make our voices heard. And when 51% of our country is screaming about the same issue our government usually listens. And if they don't, we boot them out. In my opinion our ability to be the squeaky wheel is why we can live the lifestyles we live. Now, that's also why the rest of the world sees us as selfish ugly Americans.

Love us or hate us, we have learned that we exist within our country on our terms. And we don't like it when someone else sets the terms with out our blessing. I'm not drawing any comparisons to other countries or saying everyone else should be like us. This is just my thought on why we are the way we are. fwiw.

[Muscle Master]

If gas goes past 10 a gallon, I getting a damn HUFFY I lie to you not,....bikes are still cool