US motorists

[Bagpuss]

Considering that when I was there in 2001 it cost $14 to fill the tank its small wonder that they are whinging slightly

The problem is with the SUV things. The USA introduced legislation in the 70s (after the OPEC oil shock) to limit the production of gas gusslers (well by their standards). It was the end of the american super muscle car, if you look at the emissions and fuel consumption of modern american cars they are pretty good e.g. 3.8 mustang will do over 30mpg.

However thanks to some heavy lobbying, Jeep et al managed to get pick up trucks reclassified as comercial vehicles which allowed them to operate outside of the legislation. It's a bizzare situation where cars are clean and relatively efficient but SUVs are incredibly wastefull and dirty.


I guess they didn't see the SUV craze coming.A bit of an own goal really considering 1 in 3 of american new vehicles is an SUV, meaning america is more reliant on OPEC than ever.

[BoredBloke]

"Considering that when I was there in 2001 it cost $14 to fill the tank its small wonder that they are whinging slightly"

You were driving a tank - I never managed to get that from Hertz

[Lucifer Box]

Yeah - the parts of the US I've been to always require payment in advance, so I'm sceptical about this article.

Agreed. Even 10 years ago this was not uncommon. When I was there last year in the west and mid-west, it seemed a universal policy.

[OwlHoot]

DP, can't be arsed to check your calculations, but did you take into account that US gallon is smaller than UK's?

A UK gallon is c. 1.2 times larger than a US gallon.

[AtW]

A UK gallon is c. 1.2 times larger than a US gallon.

That does not really answer my question, does it? You must be an IT person

[DimPrawn]

Look, at the height of the disaster US petrol was £1.60 a gallon (now down to about £1.20 I believe).

You fecking work out what that is per litre. Probably close to 40p then and 30p now. And they are going fecking bananas at that level. If they were charged over £4 a gallon like we are there would be blood on the streets and Bush would be hanging from a lampost outside the Whitehouse.

Over here, we're going to stand outside a few oil refineries for 10 minutes.

[n5gooner]

That does not really answer my question, does it? You must be an IT person

yes replying to a none related IT question on an IT website..............

[AtW]

And they are going fecking bananas at that level.

Its not the level per se that matters, its the pace of change: UK motorists were okay with petrol for 70-75p, but now not happy when its 99p, but the increase in price for the USA is much higher, which means that their disposable income dropped more seriously then here. That's the issue, not the price per se.

[Bagpuss]

Look, at the height of the disaster US petrol was £1.60 a gallon (now down to about £1.20 I believe).

You fecking work out what that is per litre. Probably close to 40p then and 30p now. And they are going fecking bananas at that level. If they were charged over £4 a gallon like we are there would be blood on the streets and Bush would be hanging from a lampost outside the Whitehouse.

Over here, we're going to stand outside a few oil refineries for 10 minutes.

True, but if your truck does 10 mpg it's costing you the same as a UK fiesta driver. They need to look at their transport and not the prices.

[DimPrawn]

I think it would make more sense to put a tax on the purchase of vehicles that do not meet certain efficiency levels.

Any vehicle that's a gas guzzler should have a huge tax levy imposed on purchase.

In this way, manufacturers have a very good reason to build and research into sustainable systems.