Gasoline goes up to $8/gallon, what do you do?

[MrWideTires]

Lets pretend gas goes up to about $8/gallon like Europe (over the course of about a year from the current $4), what do you do?

It would cost me about $95 to fill up my SE-R, and that's good for about 290 miles. I think I would still be daily driving it..

 

[SrDriver]

Not much we can do about it other than buy a more fuel friendly vehicle, consolidate trips, and drive less.

Many cars in Europe and Asia get better mileage and they have a good public transportation system unlike most cities here.

 

[bigmike]

Carry on. That's what I'd do. My round trip everyday to work is 20 miles tops. Church, grocery store, bank, and other essentials are less than 3 miles. Since the mass transit system here just raised prices, it's still cost effective to drive the 20 miles. I was riding the bus about 50% of the time but not anymore.

When it gets up to around $20 / gallon, I imagine I'll try to take the Mad Max approach.

 

[friendly_jacek]

If gas goes to $8, I will convert my prius to a plugin hybrid. That should double my MPG from 50+ to 100 MPG.

I bet trucks and SUV as commuter cars will all but disappear from the roads.

People will lineup for hybrid and electric cars. Volts will be finally selling.

Lots of people will start (illegal) conversions to propane or ethanol.

Lots of bikes and motocycles on the roads. People walking.

So, not everything will be bad.

 

[dparm]

Continue driving. That doesn't break the bank, even with 11-14mpg in my S4. I don't drive enough for it to matter.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: MrWideTires
Lets pretend gas goes up to about $8/gallon like Europe (over the course of about a year from the current $4), what do you do?


Sell my blood for money, just kidding!

Whimsey

 

[Schmoe]

The economy as we know it would collapse. There will be far worse problems than fuel prices.

 

[JHZR2]

I dont see it as really breaking the bank, as I did what was the practical thing to do and lived close to work. My wife can bike and I would if not for a bridge. Everything is bikable or I can get there with a very short car ride.

When small towns lost out to Mega-Lo-Mart, people get stuck having to drive even further in a lot of situations.

Maybe people will finally learn to appreciate physics when driving. Getting EPA highway in city driving isnt very hard.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
The economy as we know it would collapse. There will be far worse problems than fuel prices.


+1 totally agree! Anything that's delivered by truck (that's almost everything) would skyrocket in price - economy would collapse.

 

[demarpaint]

[censored] moan, and continue doing exactly what I'm doing now.

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
The economy as we know it would collapse. There will be far worse problems than fuel prices.


Agree 100% - fuel would never stay that high, as demand would drop so fast as the economy crumbled.

I'd carry on as usual, as I said in my other thread. Love to drive, love the freedom, and I'd pay the price, even at about $100 per tank cost.

 

[sciphi]

Keep driving. With two fuel-sippers in the driveway, there's not much else we could do car-wise.

 

[wheelman]

Demarpaint your right. Sadly lol. I know I will complain. I agree though economy would fall.

 

[dparm]

If gas hits $8, I predict this will happen:

 

[Quest]

I'll teach my wifey to learn how to drive stick (and then take over my honda fit), turn around to sell off her 04 Camry 2AZ-FE, and I'll go public transit all the way...

biking to work is a possibility during summer time.

Q.

 

[dwcopple]

Demand a censored raise

 

[PR1955]

Keep doing what I do now. Biggest fuel expense is to and from work, which is now 50 miles one way. Nothing I can do about that,all other needs (groceries,doctor,church,family members) are less than 5 miles from my home. I would probably have to buy cheaper food even if it wasn't as healthy.

 

[A_Harman]

Grab the torches and pitchforks, and march on Washington DC.

Figure out a way to put natural gas auxiliary fuel systems on my vehicles.

 

[Mixologist]

At $8/gal you wont have to worry about your commute to work, you'll be too busy trying to avoid the riots as your pay will not increase commensurately so a lot of people will find it's simply cheaper to stay home than go to work. Food costs would skyrocket even more than they already have. You'd see a major run on ammo as people would try to stock up. If done gradually/incrementally (Cass Sunstein model) people wouldn't notice it as much but the end effect would be the same, i.e. riots, huge disparity between rich/poor, massive spike in crime, specifically food, fuel and any other consumable theft.

Either way, it's coming...

 

[01rangerxl]

Time to go to the corn station.