Hard to sell electric vehicles without high prices at the pump.

[racer254]

MADISON (WKOW) -- Some drivers are fed up with the wallet drain at the pump and are now eyeing alternate fuel vehicles.

Justin Jackson, General Sales Manager at Smart Toyota says, "if you come in today to buy a Rav4 hybrid, you might not get it to the summertime."

 

Rising gas prices are steering a growing number of drivers to alternative fuel vehicles.

"Our dealership, pre-pandemic, we were selling about 30-40% hybrid and now we're running about 50- 55% of the vehicles we sell our hybrids," says Jackson.

He also says customers' vehicles with low fuel efficiency are now becoming a deal-breaker.

 

https://www.wkow.com/townnews/commerce/gas-prices-steering-more-buyers-to-alternative-fuel-vehicles/article_e0915c94-a301-11ec-8e75-7fc5184d61d8.html?fbclid=IwAR393ExPdMXrATih6BLctFrTK_EYOzYr9-IHsB1DUSk7pTYQgozJ4rzYzGw

[XCR1250]

Oil and gas prices drop sharply ahead of Ukraine-Russia peace talks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suban Abdulla

Mon, March 14, 2022, 7:33 AM·4 min read

 

 

• 
  
• NG=F

  -1.61%

   
• CNH=F

  +0.28%

   
• JPM

  -2.25%

   
• JPM-PK

  -1.10%

   
• JPM-PL

  -0.86%

   
• JPM-PM

  -0.87%

   
• BZ=F

  -3.51%

   
• CL=F

  -4.12%

   
• KW=F

  +0.55%

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oil and gas industry. Oil pump oil rig energy industrial machine for petroleum in the sunset background, Increase in oil production

The prices of oil and gas continue to come down after a wild week of market volatility amid hopes of a diplomatic resolve to the war in Europe as Ukraine and Russia are set to resume talks on Monday.

 

Crude prices posted their biggest weekly drop since November last week, despite hitting their highest levels since 2008 as traders assessed the damage to global supply from the war.

Brent crude (BZ=F) was down 4.1% to $108.07 (£82.86) a barrel in early trade on Monday in London. US light crude (CL=F) fell 4.8% to $104.04 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The UK and US’s announcement of a ban on Russian oil and oil products further pushed prices higher, but they pulled back sharply throughout the week as some producing countries signalled they may boost supply.

Uncertainty over the US-Iran nuclear deal also added to the market's volatility, raising fears over supply as talks to revive the 2015 pact faced the threat of collapse after a last–minute Russian demand forced the countries to pause talks.

European benchmark gas prices (NG=F) dropped sharply on Monday as Russian and Ukrainian officials are due to hold talks over video link later today.

Dutch natural gas futures fell as much as 16% on Monday, while UK gas futures dropped over 12%.

 

Brent crude fell 4.1% to $108.04 a barrel on Monday. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK

Despite lower oil prices, which led to a cut in wholesale costs for fuel retailers, drivers are still feeling the impact at the pumps as fuel prices broke another record over the weekend.

Fuel price movements in the UK are mainly determined by the price of crude oil, and the exchange rate between sterling and the US dollar as crude is traded in dollars.

The average cost of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts on Sunday was 163.46p, while diesel was 173.44p, according to figures from RAC.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said the average price of petrol "appears to be on a collision course with £1.65 a litre".

He added: "While there will almost certainly be more rises this week, drivers should soon get some respite from pump prices jumping by several pence a litre every day as oil and wholesale prices appear to have settled.

"The price hikes seen over the weekend are still a result of the oil price rise which began at the start of the month and peaked early last week at $137 a barrel.

"As the oil price has now fallen back, we should hopefully reach the peak and start to see prices going the other way to reflect the big drop in wholesale costs seen at the end of last week, subject to no further spikes in the barrel price this week."

[racer254]

Regular is 4.09 and diesel 4.99 as of 3/13/2022 in my area.

[racer254]

This is an excellent breakdown.

Batteries, they do not make electricity – they store electricity produced elsewhere, primarily by coal, uranium, natural gas-powered plants, or diesel-fueled generators. So, to say an EV is a zero-emission vehicle is not at all valid.

Also, since forty percent of the electricity generated in the U.S. is from coal-fired plants, it follows that forty percent of the EVs on the road are coal-powered, do you see?"

Einstein's formula, E=MC2, tells us it takes the same amount of energy to move a five-thousand-pound gasoline-driven automobile a mile as it does an electric one. The only question again is what produces the power? To reiterate, it does not come from the battery; the battery is only the storage device, like a gas tank in a car.

There are two orders of batteries, rechargeable, and single-use. The most common single-use batteries are A, AA, AAA, C, D. 9V, and lantern types. Those dry-cell species use zinc, manganese, lithium, silver oxide, or zinc and carbon to store electricity chemically. Please note they all contain toxic, heavy metals.

Rechargeable batteries only differ in their internal materials, usually lithium-ion, nickel-metal oxide, and nickel-cadmium. The United States uses three billion of these two battery types a year, and most are not recycled; they end up in landfills. California is the only state which requires all batteries be recycled. If you throw your small, used batteries in the trash, here is what happens to them.

All batteries are self-discharging. That means even when not in use, they leak tiny amounts of energy. You have likely ruined a flashlight or two from an old, ruptured battery. When a battery runs down and can no longer power a toy or light, you think of it as dead; well, it is not. It continues to leak small amounts of electricity. As the chemicals inside it run out, pressure builds inside the battery's metal casing, and eventually, it cracks. The metals left inside then ooze out. The ooze in your ruined flashlight is toxic, and so is the ooze that will inevitably leak from every battery in a landfill. All batteries eventually rupture; it just takes rechargeable batteries longer to end up in the landfill.

In addition to dry cell batteries, there are also wet cell ones used in automobiles, boats, and motorcycles. The good thing about those is, ninety percent of them are recycled. Unfortunately, we do not yet know how to recycle single-use ones properly.

But that is not half of it. For those of you excited about electric cars and a green revolution, I want you to take a closer look at batteries and also windmills and solar panels. These three technologies share what we call environmentally destructive production costs.

A typical EV battery weighs one thousand pounds, about the size of a travel trunk. It contains twenty-five pounds of lithium, sixty pounds of nickel, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds cobalt, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic. Inside are over 6,000 individual lithium-ion cells.

It should concern you that all those toxic components come from mining. For instance, to manufacture each EV auto battery, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. All told, you dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust for just - one - battery."

Sixty-eight percent of the world's cobalt, a significant part of a battery, comes from the Congo. Their mines have no pollution controls, and they employ children who die from handling this toxic material. Should we factor in these diseased kids as part of the cost of driving an electric car?"

I'd like to leave you with these thoughts. California is building the largest battery in the world near San Francisco, and they intend to power it from solar panels and windmills. They claim this is the ultimate in being 'green,' but it is not. This construction project is creating an environmental disaster. Let me tell you why.

The main problem with solar arrays is the chemicals needed to process silicate into the silicon used in the panels. To make pure enough silicon requires processing it with hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, trichloroethane, and acetone. In addition, they also need gallium, arsenide, copper-indium-gallium- diselenide, and cadmium-telluride, which also are highly toxic. Silicon dust is a hazard to the workers, and the panels cannot be recycled.

Windmills are the ultimate in embedded costs and environmental destruction. Each weighs 1688 tons (the equivalent of 23 houses) and contains 1300 tons of concrete, 295 tons of steel, 48 tons of iron, 24 tons of fiberglass, and the hard to extract rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium. Each blade weighs 81,000 pounds and will last 15 to 20 years, at which time it must be replaced. We cannot recycle used blades.

There may be a place for these technologies, but you must look beyond the myth of zero emissions.

"Going Green" may sound like the Utopian ideal but when you look at the hidden and embedded costs realistically with an open mind, you can see that Going Green is more destructive to the Earth's environment than meets the eye, for sure.

[Anler]

There are lots of teslas running around here. I know several people who have put deposits on new EV's but problem is they just arent available. Could take a year or more to get it. 

[Mainecat]

Umbrellas are hard to sell unless it’s raining.

[racer254]

2 minutes ago, Mainecat said:

Umbrellas are hard to sell unless it’s raining.

Especially when the one side of the government makes it rain.  But, I didn't think you would understand that.

As the saying goes "Don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining"

Edited March 14, 2022 by racer254

[1jkw]

The ford E truck had over 100,000 orders when gas was cheaper the E mustangs were sold out too, many new to my area  Telsa's during the pandemic when gas was much cheaper. I would buy a Ford lightning right now if there was one available even if gas were much cheaper, a 3 or 4 hundred HP truck with no oil changes, cam tensioners, sparkplugs,  and all the other costly repairs that come with modern engines.

[Highmark]

6 minutes ago, 1jkw said:

The ford E truck had over 100,000 orders when gas was cheaper the E mustangs were sold out too, many new to my area  Telsa's during the pandemic when gas was much cheaper. I would buy a Ford lightning right now if there was one available even if gas were much cheaper, a 3 or 4 hundred HP truck with no oil changes, cam tensioners, sparkplugs,  and all the other costly repairs that come with modern engines.

Probably owned 20-30 cars/trucks/SUV's since college between the wife and I and not one had any motor work done other than basically fluids/filters. 

Has Ford commented on how long their battery system lasts?   Tesla's seem to crap out around 100k and are quite expensive to replace. 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Highmark

[XCR1250]

3 minutes ago, Highmark said:

Probably owned 20-30 cars/trucks/SUV's since college between the wife and I and not one had any motor work done other than basically fluids/filters. 

Has Ford commented on how long their battery system lasts?   Tesla's seem to crap out around 100k and are quite expensive to replace. 

Same here, never had any engine problems except 1 Camshaft on a 1979 Malibu wagon that had over 300,000 miles it when the cam failed.

Have replaced ball joints and tie rod ends a couple times on a several vehicles I've owned.

[steve from amherst]

Just now, XCR1250 said:

Same here, never had any engine problems except 1 Camshaft on a 1979 Malibu wagon that had over 300,000 miles it when the cam failed.

Have replaced ball joints and tie rod ends a couple times on a several vehicles I've owned.

When I unloaded my 06 f350 oiler , it had 247,000

stock exhaust

starter

arternator

waterpump

[Mag6240]

47 minutes ago, Anler said:

There are lots of teslas running around here. I know several people who have put deposits on new EV's but problem is they just arent available. Could take a year or more to get it. 

That's because of the post right before yours.  No one has a clue, nor have they been telling any of these climate fools, about the actual amount of time, energy, and FOSSIL FUELS it takes to create one battery.

[Highmark]

4 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

Same here, never had any engine problems except 1 Camshaft on a 1979 Malibu wagon that had over 300,000 miles it when the cam failed.

Have replaced ball joints and tie rod ends a couple times on a several vehicles I've owned.

Same goes with sleds.   Guess I'm just lucky. 

[XCR1250]

2 minutes ago, steve from amherst said:

When I unloaded my 06 f350 oiler , it had 247,000

stock exhaust

starter

arternator

waterpump

Wife's 2007 Avalanche has +/- 193,000, only things done were 2 oil pressure sensors, 1 valve cover, (another story) water pump alternator belt, some front end parts.

[XCR1250]

3 minutes ago, Highmark said:

Same goes with sleds.   Guess I'm just lucky. 

I've blown up quite a few sled engines but I started riding in 1959,,,lol, bought my first sled in 1967 and first new one in 1973, the 1973 used to blow up about once a week.

[1jkw]

9 minutes ago, Highmark said:

Probably owned 20-30 cars/trucks/SUV's since college between the wife and I and not one had any motor work done other than basically fluids/filters. 

Has Ford commented on how long their battery system lasts?   Tesla's seem to crap out around 100k and are quite expensive to replace. 

I only lost one that wasn't my fault as an adult, but as kid beating the shit out of them quite a few. Just stop by any brand dealer and check the garage area and see new cars with the engines torn apart.   

I drive 50 to 75 miles everyday just driving around, a $40,000 300 hp e- truck would be perfect. I know batteries would be costly, but when you consider the cost of oil changes, time getting oil and doing it yourself or driving to a garage to have it done, going to get gas compared to plugging in at home seems like a reasonable tradeoff to me.

[ViperGTS/Z1]

I hope there actually is a buying frenzy of EV's while fuel prices are high.....once fuel prices do recede, they will remain stable with less demand. I'm just not ready.and have no desire for an EV at this time.

 The sound of a V8 or V10 will always be music to my ears and can't be replaced by a battery powered car

[Highmark]

6 minutes ago, XCR1250 said:

I've blown up quite a few sled engines but I started riding in 1959,,,lol, bought my first sled in 1967 and first new one in 1973, the 1973 used to blow up about once a week.

Any issues I've had with sleds were of my own doing.  

[XCR1250]

5 minutes ago, Highmark said:

Any issues I've had with sleds were of my own doing.  

Same, if I'd leave 'em stock I might not have any engine problems..

[steve from amherst]

17 minutes ago, 1jkw said:

I only lost one that wasn't my fault as an adult, but as kid beating the shit out of them quite a few. Just stop by any brand dealer and check the garage area and see new cars with the engines torn apart.   

I drive 50 to 75 miles everyday just driving around, a $40,000 300 hp e- truck would be perfect. I know batteries would be costly, but when you consider the cost of oil changes, time getting oil and doing it yourself or driving to a garage to have it done, going to get gas compared to plugging in at home seems like a reasonable tradeoff to me.

It's great if you have solar or other. Having to pay for electric kinda kills it. At least around here. Our electric bills are expensive.

[XCR1250]

My electric bill averages $78 a month and the Electric Company Co-Op sends us a yearly rebate check, and before Covid they have a once a year all you can eat cookout for free.

 Jump River Electric co-operative

[BOHICA]

2 hours ago, Highmark said:

Probably owned 20-30 cars/trucks/SUV's since college between the wife and I and not one had any motor work done other than basically fluids/filters. 

Has Ford commented on how long their battery system lasts?   Tesla's seem to crap out around 100k and are quite expensive to replace. 

Teslas batteries don’t crap out at 100k they hardly have any degradation at 100k 😂 

 

[steve from amherst]

1 hour ago, XCR1250 said:

My electric bill averages $78 a month and the Electric Company Co-Op sends us a yearly rebate check, and before Covid they have a once a year all you can eat cookout for free.

 Jump River Electric co-operative

Ours just went up.  I'm $210 now 

[1jkw]

2 hours ago, steve from amherst said:

It's great if you have solar or other. Having to pay for electric kinda kills it. At least around here. Our electric bills are expensive.

Not too bad here, it was far cheaper  than gas even during the pandemic according to the 2 people I talked to that had Telsa's. 

[hayward]

3 hours ago, 1jkw said:

The ford E truck had over 100,000 orders when gas was cheaper the E mustangs were sold out too, many new to my area  Telsa's during the pandemic when gas was much cheaper. I would buy a Ford lightning right now if there was one available even if gas were much cheaper, a 3 or 4 hundred HP truck with no oil changes, cam tensioners, sparkplugs,  and all the other costly repairs that come with modern engines.

So you don't forsee any costly repair bills down the road for having an electric vehicle?

Isn't it strange how the internal combustion engine over the past recent years has gotten less and less reliable and more and more expensive to fix, thanks in a huge part to govt. mandated emissions controls?  I don't blame you one bit, i'd look into electric too.  After all, it's what the govt. expects of you now.