OPEC not worried about EV's

I haven't seen EPA numbers yet but I'm wondering if the new 2015 aluminum F-150 will be more important in this respect.

 

Unless things really change, our next car, if there is one, will likely be just a hybrid. Our mileage is so low, monthly gas expenses currently around $35 CAN.

A plugin would be overkill, I don't need the extra complexity, and complications like no spare (current PIP).

 

This is ford your quoting here, or, the subject is ford, I have a 13' F150 2.7 eco and I get 16 on a good day, these numbers are fords wet dream of reality, yes, a deposit is down, a new Ram ecodiesel is to be in the driveway 2nd week of dec, 26-28 beats 16, and the new ford aluminum might add 1 or 2mpg's,

2015 Ford F-150 to get up to 26 miles per gallon, bwahh, all the way to court

 

Well - duh
The only think OPEC worries about is who has more power, them or banks.

 

Cleanmpg is saying its 19/29 for the 2wd model.
Fords 2015 F-150 EPA Numbers Are Out - CleanMPG Forums

The 2.7L Ecoboost is a new engine debuting in the 2015 F150. You likely mean the port injected 3.7L. 16mpg is the 4wd's city rating, but it comes down to your daily route. The 2015 uses an aluminum body , and 2.7 also has stop/start.

 

OPEC (mostly Saudi Arabia) isn't THE big producer anymore. Russia is the largest energy exporter and the USA fills out the top three.

In the US last year the Prius was ~8 1/4% of Toyota sales and the Tacoma outsold it.

2013 U.S. Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - Top 270 Best-Selling Vehicles In America - Every Vehicle Ranked - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

I didn't see Tesla's Model S on the list. 15 million vehicles were sold.

EV sales are so low they are lost in the rounding. I don't believe EV sales are going to follow a hyperbolic curve. I expect slow steady growth attributed almost entirely by Tesla sales.

 

I've paid 12.9 cents per gallon and $4.399. Currently $2.659 for regular.

At that price point the 36 MPG full sized sedan is going to be good enough for most and that means for every one sold the next 17 years are going to see that MPG in use.

As I drive in this small (~50k) southern (depressed) town, I see a mix of Prius, small sedan, full size sedan, vanity pickup, working pickup and van/SUVs style vehicles in about equal numbers. I see a Volt once a month, never a Leaf nor a Tesla. The Prius almost all come from a retirement community with an average age over 55 for the drivers.

 

Saudi seems to want cheap oil. It hurts Russia and Iran, and may slow north american production. Russia needs cash, but seems to be stuck at 10.5 mbbl/day for next year, US is projected to produce 13.5 mbbl/day next year according to OPEC (this includes natural gas liquids and biofuels), but this is near peak and US consumption will be around 19.5. The us needs to drop consumption a great deal if it is going to be oil independant but 2015 will mean even less opec oil will be imported. Production is expected to increase 1.6 mbbl/day next year mainly from the US, Canada, Brazil, and China. Demand is expected to increase 1.2 mbbl/day, which means OPEC needs to cut production to stabilize tthe price, but perhaps Saudi will push the price further down. The US is expected to peak in 2019 according to eia then decrease production so any price movements down from here should be short lived.

Tesla would have been 154 if they had counted it.

Plug ins were slightly less than 1% last year, they should be slightly more than 1% next year. Add hybrids to plug-ins and they are less than 5%of the us market. That is much less oil reduced than new production in oil in the last few years.

 

These percentage are for passenger cars only. The trucking industry is changing a lot faster. Adopting to CNG, liquid NG, propane, hybrids, PI-hybrids, EV, etc. And further more fuel saving with long haul trucks having separate diesel engine for cabin cooling during idol/rest time. Then next generation of trucks going into aerodynamics to save fuel.

Don't forget the planes doing the same things.

This adoptions of little here and there adds up quick.

 

OPEC not worried about EV's
The dinosaurs weren't worried about climate change either.....

 

Fuel efficiency is making a difference. The further adoption of plug ins and/or BEVs will reduce consumption further.

Bring it on.

 

If EVs were to increase ten-fold, that would be a trivial amount compared to the number of new cars put into use in a year. And the car wanting populations in the world keep growing.

 

Oil is burned by a lot more things than just passenger cars, and the worldwide market is much bigger than just US and other countries with rich consumers who can afford EVs.

Even with a far far larger chunk of us moving of EVs, OPEC won't find a lack of a market for their oil.

 

As a people we'll just waste it until it's gone.

Thirty years ago the 3rd World rode Honda 90's and the first World drove cars bigger and thirstier than we needed. Now the first World is cutting back and encouraging fuel efficiency and BEVs and what was the 3rd World now want cars bigger and thirstier than they need.

We never learn.

 

As our favorite Terminator stated: "It is in your nature to destroy yourselves."

 

I think Big Oil (not just OPEC) was fine with the shift to more fuel-efficient cars since the seventies. That way the could do less work; refine less oil, and still make more money by jacking up the price.

OPEC, by any definition is a cartel. Here's the Wikipedia definition:

In economics, a cartel is an agreement between competing firms to control prices or exclude entry of a new competitor in a market. It is a formal organization of sellers or buyers that agree to fix selling prices, purchase prices, or reduce production using a variety of tactics.​

In most places, it's illegal to fix prices. People go to jail for lesser crimes, but we've been the victims of price-fixing since almost the first discovery of petroleum

 

Nice, in the beginning it was the Texas Railroad commission that regulated most us oil production. They were(are) corrupt but did a fairly fair job ballancing the good for the buyers and producers. This allong with the break up of standard oil made sure that there was not too damaging collusion. Nixon changed this and changed things to federal price controls on US produced oil and natural gas. This did two things, greatly increased imports from opec where oil company profits were not regulated, and stimulated demand with low oil prices. Yeah anyone with a eye at history found the national governments control of prices hurt the american people a great deal more than any oil company collusion, but this handed control of oil supplies to OPEC, which in 1973 used it to create price spikes and gas lines. Welcome to the era 1973-1982 where opec artificianlly cut production to cause pain to the US. Of Course a decade of pain caused the US to react, with Ford's cafe standards, and Regans removal of oil price controls allowing US producers to make money investing in oil again.

US needs to learn the lesson. The way to stop opec from hurting this country is by both drilling North American oil and reducing demand. plug-ins and hybrids are just a small part of that. The huge amount of bio fuels hurt opec more as has weak demand in china and europe. When Europe and china recover, the US needs to be ready.