I haven't been inconvenienced by the latest gas price hikes. At least not yet. I'm not driving that much and I'm willing to pay whatever it takes at the pump if it helps to ensure that Putin is removed from power. Unfortunately, I know a lot of people don't have that luxury, and I fear the price increases we're seeing are more from corporate greed (Really? In America? Say it ain't so!) than an actual shortage of crude oil on the world market.
(I don't have any proof of that; I'm just talking out of my ass like everyone else on the Internet.)
I haven't had to fill up in over a week so I haven't felt the pain directly yet. The last time I filled the tank, Premium (which Rabbit drinks) was at $4.499 a gallon. As I was driving past my usual QT this morning, however, I noticed that the price had shot up to $5.099 a gallon, which seems to be the new norm in Phoenix according to GasBuddy. That was a bit of a shock, but not unreasonable, considering my level of consumption, but I can certainly understand how that would easily bankrupt people with lower incomes who have to drive every single day. Ben—who has a 90 mile round trip commute every day—is feeling the pain much more than me, but at least his car sips only regular grade petrol.
Right now, the worst case scenario for me (at current prices) is that if I run the tank dry (which I never do), it will cost around $64 to fill it every two weeks at this current price. Even at these higher prices, that's $32 a week, which was about what I was paying pre-pandemic when I was driving to work every day. (How that math actually works out I don't know; it gives me a stabbing pain when I try to wrap my head around it.)
What's going to be interesting is the week after next. We have a little road trip planned through New Mexico: 1400 miles total (more or less). With the mostly highway/street MPG I get from Rabbit and worst case scenario of $6.00/gallon (or more) gas, it's gonna be rather pricey, but both of us need this trip and we don't want to cancel at the last minute. I'll cover the cost of the gas since Ben got the hotel rooms. We'll come out about even.
It will be an interesting trip, that's for sure!
And Fuck Putin.
Hubs bought a used Kia hybrid (50mpg) a couple of months ago when his work station was changed to Albuquerque (about 49 miles one way). He traded in his Tiguan and was lucky to even find a used hybrid. I am getting 38-40 mpg on my 10 year old Honda Fit with standard (does anyone say "standard" nowadays?) transmission. Fuel at the local Pueblos was $4.19 today. We've been used to prices in the $2+ range here! I cannot help but think the war in Ukraine is an excuse for the oil companies to cash in (heard it on PBS radio and they don't lie – I hope)