pic: 1114

[Karthik]

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[Mr. Lim]

What a bittersweet picture... =P

The 1114 coolness factor is definitely present, but the gut-wrenching realization of how much this is eating into my pocketbook severely mutes the experience...



I'm rooting for the day when Petro-Canada does a shoutout to our friends at Crescent @ 61.0 cents/L

[Travis Hoffman]

This is $4.46 USD a gallon, for us Imperial scum.

Divide by 25. That should be a fairly accurate conversion factor for a while, as long as the American dollar hangs by a thread around $1.05 CDN.

And since we're all fantasizing about cheap gas prices, why not Woburn @ 18.8 cents/litre (RoboRaiders cents/gallon)?

Good pointer for any American teams driving to Waterloo and/or the GTR next year - gas up in the U.S. before crossing the border!

[Dan Petrovic]

I'm hoping for the day when gas prices are at Juggernaut cents/gallon.

But that day won't ever come, unfortunately.

[artdutra04]

And I remember the days of 99 cents (USD) per gallon...

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

This is $4.46 USD a gallon, for us Imperial scum.

Divide by 25. That should be a fairly accurate conversion factor for a while, as long as the American dollar hangs by a thread around $1.05 CDN.

The division factor of 25 is pretty close. But the $4.46 figure is high by a factor of (1.05)^2

3.7854 litre = 1 US gallon, and at current rates 1.05 $CAN = 1.00 $US.

So conversion from Canadian cents per litre to US dollars per US gallon goes like this:

111.4 Canadian cents / litre x (1 Canadian dollar / 100 Canadian cents) x (1 US dollar / 1.05 Canadian dollar ) x ( 3.7854 litre / 1 US gallon ) = 4.016 US dollar / US gallon

So poor Karthik has to pay over $4 a gallon, which looks like highway robbery when compared to the $2.49 a gallon I paid this afternoon in St. Louis. On the other hand, Karthik gets off easy compared to our European friends who are paying about $6 a gallon today.

The difference is due to Europeans' willingness to pay higher gas taxes than Canadians and Americans will stand for. Green policies are apparently worth more to Europeans. Maybe we should take a lesson from them on our side of the ocean.

Until then, take Travis' advice and gas up in the US before you drive to Canada.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

This is $4.46 USD a gallon, for us Imperial scum.

US dollars, what kind of gallon?

Originally Posted by artdutra04

And I remember the days of 99 cents (USD) per gallon...

Bah. I can remember "Rush" cents per gallon!

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

US dollars, what kind of gallon?

Liquid, US

My math was backwards earlier today - see Richard's post. See, I must have subconsciously assumed Canada's dollar was stronger than ours and not the other way around, since it's been heading in that direction for a while now.

[henryBsick]

Thats steep. I was just in the land up north. In Ontario, near Peterborough and gas was 95 cents a liter. I wish the exchange rate from US to Canadian would reflect the higher prices for everything in Canada like it used to. I spent a looooot of money in 5 days :/

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Richard

//math deleted//

The difference is due to Europeans' willingness to pay higher gas taxes than Canadians and Americans will stand for. Green policies are apparently worth more to Europeans. Maybe we should take a lesson from them on our side of the ocean.

I don't think it's so much a willingness to pay to be green as it is a reflection of the historical tax structure. Oil was a domestic commodity in the US and Canada, and thus not highly taxed lest we harm our own. Until the North Sea deposits were tapped, Europe was pretty much an oil importer. And where did governments mostly get taxes through the early 1900's? Tariffs. You taxed things you imported. Gas/oil was a natural commodity to tax for Europeans, just like tires (rubber) had an excise tax in the US. Since the European countries were already getting a good amount of taxes from fuel sales, they kept it going.

It would be a bitter pill for the US to swallow, but the only practical way we are going to reduce energy consumption is to tax it higher. If the initiatives for CAFE and alternative fuels work (and that's a BIG IF), the market for petroleum will tank and the price will drop dramatically. So now people would have fuel efficient cars capable of driving on several fuels - why not pick gasoline at a cheap price? And drive a lot, because it's cheap? We'd be right back where we started, except one more level of technology would have already been used up.

Don't believe it? Well, it's exactly where we are today. The auto manufacturers doubled their mpg, so gas prices stayed cheap until 9/11 and Katrina, and people continued to buy, buy, buy. People drove farther than ever. So now politicians are calling for another dramatic increase in CAFE. Gotta work on the demand side, folks.