if you are complaining what should we say? the price is 1.35 € per litre!!! wich makes it around 7 € per gallon. Its the reason why our cars mostly have engines between 1 and 2 litres.
The good news is that shortly they will introduce a new tax on suv and 4x4, yes i live in great country!
1 gal = 3.78L
1 EUR = 1.28039 USD
So that would be $4.83USD/gal. We're not that far off from that. Actually people were thinking we'd hit $5 this summer but people have cut back significantly that it's leveling off.
Also, keep in mind that unlike many other countries, the US does not have a very good train system. This was because of the auto companies back in the 50's. To get from San Francisco to Los Angeles you would haev to drive the 400 miles. You could fly for around $60-70 per person one way or you could take the train for $100 pre person.
I think it would be great if we could take our cars into the train like the Europe but thay don't do that here. We don't have high speed tracks either. Trains are limited to 79mph. If we could jsut go to the tran station, pull into a car with our car then ride down to Socal then get out, that would be awesome and I'd do it. It would sure beat driving down I5.
The other problem I see is that everyone has a truck or SUV here. I'd say 80% of those who drive them bully smaller cars. So it can be a bit dangerous for small car owners.
ANother thing is most European's have City cars. This concept is slowly appearing in the US becauses the gas prices are forcing it. I know in most other countries, people will have a small city car but then at home have another car for family trips/outings. Everyone seems to use their SUV's for everything here. You usually get one person in the SUV commuting everyday some 40 miles.
The only problem is that most companes are slow to bring them over here. We don't really have a sub compact catagory anymore. Most small cars have grown to almsot mid-size. Although Japan is quickly jumping on the opportunity. They brought the Yaris and Jazz to the US. We don't get the anything from Renault, Peugeot, Fiat, Alfa Romero or Skoda. Renault pulled out of the US after Chrysler bought AMC/Jeep. Alfa pulled out in the early 90's.
I have noticed a 100% increase in motorcycles on the roads though. Scooters were never really popular in the US because of the distances people have to travel. Most drivers in cars don't pat attention to anything other then a car and they do that poorly sometimes, too. Speed limits are too high for the smaler scooters so they aren't legal on the highways. The one nice thing about the small scooters is that they don't need insurance and with 100mpg range, you could commute short distances with them and not fill up for months.
Oh and diesels which have been known in Europe as being good on gas mileage are dissappearing before they even get established here. I've read that VW is going to stop exporting their TDI's. DC is going to stop with the CDI Liberty also. The problem with the Liberty is that mileage wasn't that great for the added cost of buying a diesel. Sad to see the VW's go though. They could get a honest 45mpg. I believe one of the problems was the EPA and its strict rules on particulates. I think the Diesel fuel in the US isn't as clean burning as other European countries.
As for that SUV tax. That would be interesting. Although in the cities, it would be hard to drive around in a US made SUV. Roads are too narrow parking would be a real headache.
Hopefully once the war is over, oil prices will come down again. Although I doubt we'll see pre-war prices ever again. No more Sunday drives, no more cruising on a Friday...
