Fight OPEC? Vote with your wallet

Didn't know we were on OPEC, thought it was CANMEX.

 

I'm fighting OPEC in my own way by driving my Leaf. My Prius now mostly sits I only buy gas for it every 2-3 months.

 

The way to become energy independent (and still remain on oil as these people seem to want) is to consume less oil by percentage with the rest of the world than our reserves compare with the rest of the world. In other words:

US reserves = 23.2 BB
World reserves = 1481 BB
So we need to be consuming at less than 1.56%.

World consumption = 0.93 BB / Day
So we need to be consuming at less than 0.014 BB / Day.
US consumption = 0.19 BB / Day
So we are consuming at 1304% too high a rate. We need to drop our consumption of oil by 92.3%.

That is the simple math of the situation. Production rate is, of course, completely irrelevant.
[all numbers from Wikipedia, feel free to post similar calculations with your preferred numbers, if you disagree with theirs]

 

As long as our demand helps keep the price high, OPEC benefits. The flip side of that is anything OPEC does that tightens supply will raise the price for all.

 

Ever since then the US has dreamed of becoming energy independent. Now, nearly 40 years later, that dream is within our grasp.

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Ha ha ha ha that has to be some joke, no? The US drives some of the thirstiest cars in the World. If you wanted to become energy independent just drive smaller, more efficient engines like everyone else uses.​

 

And if the Big 3 were serious about fuel efficiency, you wouldn't see results like this:

 

You think wrong. We are on fungible oil in terms of OPEC enrichment,

And foreign oil in terms of economic harm to the US.

 

You misinterpret the 'energy independent' call. In the US it is a code word for desire to ravage the environment so that 15 mpg personal vehicles can fuel up at $1 a gallon.

Now, you and I both know that local production will command the same prices as the world market, but no one ever said that these right wing types were anything but idiots.

Consumption rolls with fuel price. Everything else is pissing in the wind.

 

That really is abysmal.

Australia's car industry has collapsed over the past six months. Ford and GM are both going to stop production here in 2017, and because that means the auto-parts manufacturers will lose their economies of scale, the only other car manufacturer, Toyota, is going to pull out at the same time.

Toyota is building HyCams here - which are economical and sensible - and Aurions, which are basically V6 Camrys. While the Aurion is a pointless car, the HyCam was suited to the modern world, and Toyota pulling out is a result of external issues, especially the collapse of the auto-parts sector in the wake of the Ford and GM closures.

Last year, GM started building a hatchback version of the Chevrolet/Daewoo Cruze, and the 1.4 turbo is not a stupid car. But the mainstay of GM's production here has always been - and still is - the Commodore. That's the car sold as the Vauxhall VXR in Britain and the Pontian G8/GXP and the new Chevrolet police car in the US. The smallest engine is a 3.0 V6, and it does a stated 30mpg (UK) (26mpg US); in the real world, you're looking at around 2/3 of that at best. Other versions are 3.6l, 5.7l, and bigger.



Ford's only Australian car is the Falcon. Until they wedged in the 2.0 turbo from the Mondeo about 18 months ago, it was only available as a normally-aspirated 4.0 (28mpg UK / 24 mpg US stated - 2/3 of that in the real world), or a turbo version of the same thing.



Neither of these cars were even powerful or fast. Just big and thirsty. And people wonder why the industry collapsed.

Fortunately, Australian consumers, unlike American consumers, did vote with their wallets, and that's why the industry has collapsed.

But we are completely dependent on oil from Singaporean refineries.

 

Shame but it sounds more like local management didn't want to change or see which way the market was going - ie building 4 litre gas guzzlers 20 years longer than they should have.

The Commodore was sold as the Omega here and was a popular choice for taxi companies. Big and bomb proof, but GM wanted one range for Opel/Vauxhall in Europe and Europe likes tiny cars. I've no idea why the didn't continue to sell the Omega in the UK in RHD form. It wouldn't take much to comply with Euro rules - rear fog light etc.

I think GM have wanted to get rid of Holden for years and have been biding their time. They're trying to get rid of Vauxhall in the UK - well judging by the naff range they offer, but they do so at their peril. Peugeot used to have a factory in the UK and shut it to prop up French unionised factories. Sales and market share collapsed and has never improved much since. Tens and tens of thousands of sales a year. I think GM will find the same in Oz.

 

Once GM, Ford and Toyota leave Australia, will any local manufacturing remain ? If not then it seems unlikely GM will suffer any backlash related to closing up shop.

 

Backlash as in lost sales - people buying Toyota or Honda. People NOT buying the imported, rebadged GM's.

People bought local Ford or Holden because they were local. Now they're not, they'll buy something else and Ford and especially GM will lose significant sales of their imported vehicles. It's happened here and it'll happen there.

 

we just drove 1300 miles to florida, averaging 42mpg in our hycam. hyfus, hyacc and others are going to help accomplish these energy goals. prices will slowly come down and gas prices will eventually rise. hybrid sales will go up inevitably, albeit, not as fast as we'd like.

 

What's the biggest selling vehicle in the US?

A Hycam? Nah. Probably some big gas guzzling pickup.

Am I right?

Huh? America’s Best-Selling Car Isn’t Purchased By the Most Drivers | TIME.com

(but seriously, I do agree with what you're doing. People moan about fuel prices in the US and they moan about them here. There are options in both countries where you get 42 mpg US and we can get 65 mpg UK with many economical cars, but the moaners will continue to drive their pickups or SUV's. Fools lol)

 

The best-selling car in America uses no fuel at all.

America's best-selling car isn't what you might think... - Autoblog

 

No, nothing.

Yes, exactly. People would buy Korean Holden Colorados and Thai Ford Fiestas because they felt they were supporting Australian manufacturing. Now they'll buy Korean Hyundai Santa Fes and Thai Honda Jazzes (Honda Fits) instead, because they'll have no reason to buy a Holden or a Ford, and they'll just go for the best car for the job.

Given how much Holden and Ford sucked up in government subsidies before buggering off, I suspect people will be choosing the Santa Fes and the Jazzes just to spite Holden and Ford, even if they're not the better cars.

And this advert, issued immediately after Holden announced the closure, really pissed people off. A lot of people said they'd never buy a Holden again.

If it's blocked, you can see it, with some commentary, at Holden says it’s ‘here to stay’ | carsguide.com.au.

 

If you are saying that buyers will now have a level playing ground, in the sense of having to choose an import -- I agree.

So which cars do Ozzies really want, now that 'buy local' is gone ? Honda ? Hyundai might be a big winner.

 

The Mazda3, bizarrely, has been our biggest-selling car for the last few years, followed by the Corolla (the Corolla just shaded the 3 last year). Then it was the Toyota HiLux, and then the Hyundai i30. The Commodore was the fifth-best-selling car last year, but this was almost entirely government sales - some councils buy green, and some buy Australian. Obviously Holden will lose all those buy-Australian sales.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about Mazda.

LOL the Holden advert. Me'thinks keeping quiet would have been smarter.