What Petrol Price Will Force You To Go Electric/Alternative?

[Marty Funkhouser]

Having run a 4.5 litre V8 last year I was more than aware of the petrol price. I sold it for a variety of reasons, the price of petrol not being the most important.

Seeing some stations with prices now in the mid £1.30's I dont think I'd get one again, unless I won the lottery - it would now cost almost £100 to fill her up and I'm doing well to get 300 miles out of that tank. I think I've hit my limit.

What price would you say would be the point where running your petrol motor just becomes far too expensive? £1.40 a litre? £1.50 a litre?

If I knew how to do a poll I'd do it.....

[Rawwr]

My next car is going to be driven from new until death. I'm fairly sure it's going to be one of the Volvo hyperdiesels (either the S40 or C30).

I just want a really comfy place to be that I can fill up 8 times a year and not worry about VED.

[kambites]

I reckon about 5 quid a litre would make me think seriously about not running a car, or at least not commuting by car.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 27th May 11:30

[Rawwr]

kambites said:

I reckon about 5 quid a litre would make me think seriously about not running a car, or at least not commuting by car.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 27th May 11:30

At £5/litre I'd be spending around £700/month to get to work. At that point I'd quit and live on benefits

[Steameh]

I don't really cover enough miles for petrol prices to impact me in a negative way. I do 6k pa at most.

[kambites]

Rawwr said:

At £5/litre I'd be spending around £700/month to get to work. At that point I'd quit and live on benefits

It'd only be about 300 quid for me and the OH to get to work, which isn't too bad. Our cars will both comfortably manage 40mpg.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 27th May 11:36

[fatboy b]

Until they crack hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles, and make them & the infrastructure availbale to the masses, any electric vehicle is flawed IMO. It's just moving the whole "green" issue somewhere else, and you still have to charge the thing up somehow, unless you have a hybrid, which is "in-between" technology.

[OnTheOverrun]

Marty Funkhouser said:

Having run a 4.5 litre V8 last year I was more than aware of the petrol price.

I'd still run a car whatever the price as I fund the running costs through my companies.

Was that 4.5 V8 you sold the 545i in your profile? It says "I'm after a 550 when my legal restrictions are gone..." What legal restrictions are they?

[kambites]

How is hydrogen any less "moving the problem" than electric cars? If anything, hydrogen is worse.

[rypt]

I'd take a Tesla right now, if it was cheap

[mat205125]

8 year old car at 25% of its retail price and 23mpg, and likely to lose a grand a year tops.

0 year old electric unicycle at 100% or its retail price and 50mpg, and going to depreciate like all brand new vehicles do.

As people are scared out of their "proper" cars by fuel price increases, less efficient metal is going to become increasingly attractive to those of us that are happy to persevere with paying for fuel rather than eco-korean-egg-whisk depreciation.

[Galsia]

Steameh said:

I don't really cover enough miles for petrol prices to impact me in a negative way. I do 6k pa at most.

I do about the same but it still worries me. I've just brought a bike to commute to work. I get very angry seeing the prices on the forecourt billboards but I never seem to notice the money coming out of my account. Must be a psychological thing.

At least the bike is healthier and a little bit quicker than the car so I can't complain.

[Andrew_M]

I changed 4 wheels for 2. It has it's pro's and con's though

[Skylinecrazy]

Marty Funkhouser said:

Seeing some stations with prices now in the mid £1.30's

Where the hell are you?

[kambites]

Skylinecrazy said:

Marty Funkhouser said:

Seeing some stations with prices now in the mid £1.30's

Where the hell are you?

It's 1.16 around here.

[Skylinecrazy]

kambites said:

Skylinecrazy said:

Marty Funkhouser said:

Seeing some stations with prices now in the mid £1.30's

Where the hell are you?

It's 1.16 around here.

And here...

It seems to be going down!

[Marty Funkhouser]

OnTheOverrun said:

Marty Funkhouser said:

Having run a 4.5 litre V8 last year I was more than aware of the petrol price.

I'd still run a car whatever the price as I fund the running costs through my companies.

Was that 4.5 V8 you sold the 545i in your profile? It says "I'm after a 550 when my legal restrictions are gone..." What legal restrictions are they?

I need to update that - the legal restrictions were the points on my licence. That was written when the price of petrol wasnt so high.....

[Marty Funkhouser]

Skylinecrazy said:

Marty Funkhouser said:

Seeing some stations with prices now in the mid £1.30's

Where the hell are you?

To be fair the highest I've seen is £1.35 at the services at Jnc 3 of the M1/

The lowest is £1.16 in Watford.

[HellDiver]

Newsflash - petrol is 111.9p at the lowest, 119.9p at the highest. 130p? You're doing it wrong.

[RobM77]

Around £10 a litre would stop me racing. Not sure about the road; perhaps £2/£3 a litre? I expect by the time it gets that much though car technology will have moved on.

It also depends how good public transport is. I use public transport quite a bit at the moment, in fact I deliberately bought a house a ten minute walk from a mainline train station so that I could use the train. The main issue is that whilst it's useful if I want to go out and drink, or avoid having to park in central London, it'll never be an alternative to a car because it takes twice as long to get anywhere and costs twice as much!