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I am lucky. I have always driven cars with good gas mileage.

But with the way gas prices are rising,, im not sure how much more the world economy can stand.

Right before everything collapses the oil companies will come out with those water powered cars they have been hiding...
If an oil company member is reading this I am only kidding <<

Why kidding? You're absolutely right - that's why Shell has the patent on the hydrogen based car.
After the oil is all used up, you still want to make money. F*cking bastards.

For the topic: Yeah, same here. It's annoying, but in a way understandable with the mideast crisis. Good but of course far from perfect to drive a Diesel.

In the USA... the average price per gallon is about $3.30 to $3.50 for unleaded. I still can't complain. In the UK, they pay well over six dollars per gallon (after converting from pounds of course). Unless we have to pay the same as a country with no oil wells of their own (100% imported), gas prices aren't "bad" yet.

The last time I filled up (which was a few hours ago) it was almost $3.80/gallon.

My car used to get 27+ mpg, but there is something wrong with it and it gets lower every month, dipping deeper and deeper into my wallet as I have to fuel up more and more often with increasingly expensive fuel.


It is clear that Gas is not going to be an affordable fuel for much longer. I would love to get an alternative-fuel vehicle as my next car. It's too bad there are not more available yet...and even fewer good/affordable ones.


I'm likely going to be stuck with gas for a long while yet...unless I give up and just find another way to get around. (Like more bike riding, buses and light-rail transportation.)

you can always ride something else

is that methane powered?

I do a lot of commuting long distances; I'm working 24 hour shifts to offset the time demands of driving two hours each direction. I drive a Toyota Celica most of the time, but even so, I'm probably spending $200 or more a month on gas. Our other vehicle right now is a Chevy Avalanche; I recently spent $75 to fill the tank; the most I've ever spent on fueling a vehicle.

I can only imagine the toll it's taking on everyone else. At least with my work, I can afford it.

None-the-less, Cathey and I are both very self-conscious of the environmental costs of all this driving, especially that of a big behemoth like the Chevy SUV/truck. We will be car-shopping soon, and we could very well end up trading in our truck and driving to A-kon in a hybrid.

I just bought a sports car with a V6. The milage isn't great, but it isn't bad. I drive about 30 miles a day, so it isn't too bad. It makes me feel bad for people that have to drive much further. I'm suprised it's jumped so high so fast reciently. Shouldn't the ended war in Iraq be making the prices drop? I suspect the gas companies are up to something.

My dream car:

http://www.teslamotors.com

The Tesla Roadster; 0-60 in well under five seconds, and no gas; it's all electric. That makes it in terms of carbon emissions twice as clean as a Toyota Prius. With an optional solar power station they can install in your garage, you can power it completely off-grid. I'm going to have my novel character have one in the 2030s as a collector's item; I'm sure Tesla Motors will be the new GM, and the first 250 shipping will be coveted items in the decades to come, when an all-gas car is as archaic as the carborator or leaded fuel is today.

Naw...they are just the first ones to make a "COOL" one. ...but $98,000.00 is a little steep.


The company that will REALLY be coveted and praised years down the road will be the ones that make "Alternative Energy" vehicles Affordable, 'Reliable', and accessible to EVERYONE. ...and the car they make will likely NOT be fast, or extremely powerful, or even really sweet looking, but it will do everything you ACTUALLY use your vehicle for now, for about the same price as a basic Gasoline car, and a tiny fraction of the cost you used to spend on fuel...if there is even any mentionable cost at all, besides routine mechanical repair and maybe the electric bill of plugging it into the wall in your home garage. (Or your garden hose, if it is H2O/Hydrogen or even STEAM...yes Steam powered.)


The Electric Sports car may get the most "oohs" and "ahhs", but it will be the first one to make a Good bargain-bin economy Alt-Fuel car that will really change the world.

In the long run, I agree.

But, it's a helpful way of garnering attention. Until now, there's been a notion that electric cars were underpowered vehicles resembling golf carts. This is a live concept car that shows that the technology can and does exist to make electric cars that can run circles around gas engines, that once electric cars catch on, we'll see significant performance jumps--0-60 in under 6 seconds in a typical family sedan or truck. It appeals to the auto enthusiasts who oggle Corvettes and Ford Mustangs, who dream about Porsches and Lamborghinis that are equally outside of their price range. It's a start that helps them get venture capital. They're already at work on designing a family sedan that should cost about half as much; by way of comparison, a number of luxury sedans already on the market run around $50-60,000. Still in the rich end, but noticably cheaper than the $100,000 roadster. From there, they intend to trickle down towards the mainstream. In a decade or so, we could start seeing Tesla Motors giving the final killing blow to Detroit, or buying them out.

I'm all for going electric and hydrogen powered as well. Manufacturing and industry already put out tons of emmissions. If we all go electric, who will be paying Figarou's bills?

Figarou will just have to quit that evil company hes working with and go to another company that gives hydrogen fuel.

I'm actually starting to see some kids at the nearby high school riding to and from school on minibikes and other stuff they could keep in their lockers.

I think hybrid cars are only the beginning. Alternative fuel sources will only become more and more in demand as the price for gasoline rises. If things keep going the way they are, I think we'll see either the hydrogen powered car or a modern electric car by 2010.

Test drove a Prius today; haven't yet committed to buying, but I did go for a drive. I may be one of the few people who can actually afford gas these days, but as a fellow Earthling, I'm a firm believer in looking out for the homeworld.

Exxon Mobile's rival British Petroleum is investing quite a bit of research into alternative energies. They have biodiesel gas stations, and for $8000 a kilowatt, you can have them install solar panels through Home Depot. Unfortunately, too many of us remember Exxon Valdez, so Exxon has been given the reputation as being the poster child of anti-environmentalism. In reality, I've had to acknowledge that they're no worse than any of the others, and for the time being, we need to get gas somewhere. Still, I hope that Exxon Mobile will join BP in planning for a future when the power they provide comes from somewhere else rather than someone else.

I contributed to global warming, too; I'm atoning today by subscribing to Green Mountain Energy to provide clean energy to the house--and replacing all our normal light bulbs with energy-efficient corkscrewy-shaped ones. Trading in a big, fat SUV/truck for a hybrid will be the next step.

As a side note, I used to favor getting gas at Shell, but I've switched over to prioritizing BP first, and then Exxon or Mobile second--BP for their least-worst ecology stance, and Exxon / Mobile out of Figarou brand loyalty.

Yeah, respect to you for considering a 'green' car. I don't know about the US but over here, they are VERY pricey.

I'm hanging back on one as I'm waiting for the all new, Citroen 2cv6. I loved the old one(it has a cult hippy kind of status over here).

The new one is apparently going to use a diesel hybrid engine. It's bound to cost a fair whack tho, but I've had the nod from my better half, so I'd better start saving http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/02/deux ... or-return/[/url]

Like I said in my gas price an weather thread, the gas is crazy priced.. http://www.thepack.network/thepackboard ... 757#156757 <--I'm too lazy to type it out again

I don't think we're gonna have a affordable, reliable hybrid for a long time. Really, we shoulda had one a long time ago. but we just keep getting forced to buy more and more gasoline.

MattSullivan wrote:I don't think we're gonna have a affordable, reliable hybrid for a long time. Really, we shoulda had one a long time ago. but we just keep getting forced to buy more and more gasoline.

Funny you say that Matt..Personally I bet there is something like that already made, but it's not open to us, because it might mess up the money they make off us now..The goverment prollie has many things that could save money out there but we'll never see it

I highly recommend you all watch "Who Killed the Eletric Car?" Really pisses me off what these people do Its all about making more money

Silverclaw wrote:I highly recommend you all watch "Who Killed the Eletric Car?" Really pisses me off what these people do Its all about making more money

Thats how it has been for decades, and its only getting worse. Like I said in my other post.