Gas Prices
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Conventional wisdom says that when gas prices rise, demand falls--and vice versa. Except that's not what's happening right now, as TheCarConnection noted a few days ago, pointing to data published in the Detroit Free Press. The newspaper noted that retail demand for gasoline is down almost 5 percent over the past week, falling to levels that we haven't experienced since last October. As with all things having to do with global oil prices and the per-gallon gas price that shows up at your local station, it's often not clear which is cause and which is effect. But with the economy still slow...
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Will Lower Summer Gas Prices Boost Car Travel For Vacations?
The numbers came in this morning, and gas prices took a sharp drop, with the national average now at just $3.50 per gallon. And they're expected to stay relatively flat through the summer, barring any surprises and geopolitical actions. That $3.50 average is s a drop of 7 cents in the last week...
John Voelcker -
New Car Gas Mileage Falls In May, Lower Gas Prices To Blame
Carmakers may continue to make their cars more fuel efficient year-on-year, but with those models selling in proportionally small numbers, actual gas mileage is climbing at a much slower rate. In fact, gas mileage in new cars actually fell in May, albeit by only 0.1 percent from April, to an...
Antony Ingram -
Electric Cars Equal $1/Gallon Gas For Life + $1,200 Cash A Year
Car buyers are notoriously fond of focusing only on the purchase price of new vehicles, without much thinking about the total cost of ownership. For electric cars that may cost twice or more what a similar-size gasoline vehicle does, that's a problem. Still, two separate pieces of evidence begin to...
John Voelcker -
How Much Will You Have To Pay For Higher MPG?
The improving fuel efficiency of modern cars is set to be a double-edged sword for car buyers, at least as far as reducing gas bills is concerned. With gas mileage rising all the time, we're using less fuel--undoubtedly a good thing. That also means less gas tax revenue for the government however...
Antony Ingram -
Dept Of Unforeseen Effects: High Gas Prices Boost Car Sales
With gas prices high, you'd expect people to buckle down and hang onto their existing cars rather than spending the money to buy new ones, right? Errrrrrr, actually not. According to Mike Jackson, the outspoken and always quotable CEO of AutoNation, buyers who've put off their new-car purchases are...
John Voelcker -
Any reader who's not driving a battery-electric car (and there are relatively few of you) may have noticed that gas prices have stopped rising, recently. They're even falling slightly--and, more important, the national average price is slightly cheaper this year ($3.84 per gallon) than it was at this time last year ($3.86 per gallon). As TheCarConnection explains in more detail, there are several reasons for the gas-price drop: More oil is reaching U.S. refineries; Demand has fallen, and prices may be catching up; and Memories of Iran's threat to close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane...
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Higher Gas Prices Don't Change Buyers' New-Car Choices Much
Fuel efficiency is making news headlines lately, with new-car sales achieving record high fuel-economy numbers in the U.S. (and in the U.K. as well). But a survey of car buyers last month by industry analyst AutoPacific seems to contradict the idea that high gas prices are leading buyers to change...
John Voelcker -
Small, Fuel-Efficient Used Car Prices On The Way Up?
The laws of supply and demand are set to do their thing in the next few weeks. Fueled by rising gas prices, short supply and rising demand, the price of used fuel-efficient vehicles is set to rise. Jonathan Banks at NADA Used Car Guide has predicted that prices will approach record highs over the...
Antony Ingram -
Gas Mileage Anxiety: Do YOU Get It?
Never mind range anxiety - that's old news these days. Most electric car owners say it lasts about a week after buying the car, and then you learn what you can and can't do. Much more concerning is gas mileage anxiety, we think. What is gas mileage anxiety? Let us explain... Back in the day, you'd...
Antony Ingram -
More Efficient Cars, More Domestic Energy: It's Working (Despite Gas Prices)
It still hasn't really registered in public awareness, but as we've said before, U.S. gasoline consumption has been falling since 2006. Now, it turns out that U.S. energy imports have been falling as well--from 60 percent in 2005 to just 45 percent last year. That can be attributed to two factors...
John Voelcker -
Forget $5 A Gallon: Alaska Residents Are Regularly Paying $6
Over the past few months, gas prices have been creeping ever upward, fueled by political uncertainty in the Middle East and a reduction in U.S. oil refining capabilities. In California, a state traditionally plagued by high gas prices, a gallon of Regular now costs well over $4.50 at most gas...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
If you do much in the way of driving, you’ll have probably noticed that your weekly fuel bill has been creeping ever higher over the last few months. A combination of factors, from the political uncertainty in the Middle East through to the closing of oil refineries in the U.S. and Europe, have caused gas prices to soar above $4 a gallon in many areas. In California, we’ve already seen gas prices push $4.79 for a gallon of Premium, while even Regular is well above the $4.50 mark. With analysts predicting that the national average gas price per gallon will peak around Memorial Day...
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Kelley Blue Book Lists Gas-Savers With Sub-$30k 5-Year Cost
Yesterday, as we were publishing our own basic guide to some of the costs you can expect from gasoline, diesel, electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles, vehicle information resource Kelly Blue Book (KBB) released a similar list. Rather than comparing energy types, the KBB list shows you all...
Antony Ingram -
Ford Offers Fleet Buyers Tool To Compare Total Emissions & Costs
Fleet managers are very, very rational people. Unlike many retail car buyers, they analyze vehicles without a shred of emotion, basing their decisions on lifetime ownership costs for vehicles that meet their needs. More and more, though, those fleet buyers are being asked to help reduce their...
John Voelcker -
As Gas Prices Rise, So Do Fuel-Efficient Car Sales
It sounds like simple economics, because it is: If the cost of running your car increases, you're going to either use it less--not an option for some--or find a cheaper option. February vehicle sales rose by 15.7 percent last month, and many of those were for more compact and fuel-efficient...
Antony Ingram -
Gas, Hybrid, Diesel, Electric: What Do They Cost Over 5 Yrs?
So you're in the market for a new car. Fantastic. You've done the research--looking at list prices, EPA fuel ratings, and all manner of other factors--and you know you want something fuel-efficient and easy on the environment. But what will that car really cost over, say, five years of ownership?...
Antony Ingram -
So Maybe $4/Gallon Gasoline Isn't That Big A Deal After All?
Gas prices are rising. This we know, and it's something we can do very little about. The increased cost of accessing crude oil, and political instability in oil-controlling nations putting a squeeze on supply, means the consumer has to foot the bill. But as gas prices climb towards the $4 per...
Antony Ingram -
As gas prices across the U.S. continue an upward march towards $5 per gallon, demand for Toyota Hybrids is now the highest it has been for nearly four years. On Thursday last week, Toyota reported that sales of all Prius brand hybrids -- including the new 2012 Toyota Prius V wagon -- were up 52 percent in February, driven in part by the ever-increasing gas price. In fact, as consumers look towards more fuel efficient cars of all types, sales of all Toyota cars -- including its Lexus luxury car and Scion youth-oriented brands -- rose by 12 percent last month. As Bloomberg reports, this beats...
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DoE Secretary Chu: Gas Prices Hurt, But Oil Dependency Worse
Unless you don’t drive a gasoline-powered car, the chances are you’ve noticed the spike in gasoline prices lately. But according to the U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu, the U.S. Department of Energy isn’t about to intervene with a knee-jerk reaction designed to immediately...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Gas Prices Rising, But Not For The Reasons You May Think
Over the past week or so, we’ve seen the average price of gasoline hit $3.60 per gallon of regular, with some areas of the country -- like California -- reaching a heady $4 a gallon. But while the Syrian uprising and political tensions between Iran and the West over its nuclear program are...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Five Top Used High Mileage Cars To Help You Survive High Gas Prices
Unless you don’t own a car, or happen to drive an all-electric car, the chances are you’ll have noticed that gas prices have risen dramatically over the past few days. But as growing uncertainly in the Middle East -- not to mention the knock-on effects of a large gasoline refinery fire...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Gas Prices To Soar Above $4 Per Gallon This Spring, Analysts Say
Gas prices always soar in the springtime. Northerners venture out of their houses more as milder weather arrives, and the market anticipates higher consumption for summer vacation trips. This year, analysts say, prices could cross the psychologically significant $4-per-gallon mark, adding as much...
John Voelcker -
Why MPGs Matter: Iran Threatens Oil Supply Via Hormuz Strait
It's a truism of new-car sales: Gas prices go up, buyers focus more on gas mileage. Gas prices go down again, people forget all about fuel efficiency. Well, here's a gentle reminder about why you may want to focus on cars with high EPA ratings for gas mileage. As The New York Times reported, on...
John Voelcker