Comments on: Oil Hits $100 per Barrel Today

By: canehdian

canehdian — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:07:22 +0000

@#18, Jeff.
It is (and has been for years) cheaper to heat with electricity than gas. People just dont realize that the idea of electricity being more expensive is using baseboard or portable heaters. They are massive energy suckers for little efficiency. We have an electric forced air heater in our home. It produces the same heat as a gas furnace, at lower cost.
We spend about ~$300 a month to heat a large two storey house with electric forced air furnace, compared to my brother’s single story (no finished basement either!) bungalow with a gas furnace, paying ~$200.
Friends with equivalent sized homes pay ~$500 with their gas furnaces.

Oh, and our furnace will last almost forever. If anything is to break in it, its the heating element. And guess what? It can be replaced for $50.

Friends and neighbours up the street are in the HVAC/installation business. They say a gas furnace lasts ~15 years. An electric can last for 30+. But people have this mindset that gas is better, so they pick gas over electric.

To bring this all into perspective – people will most likely think the same thing when it comes to cars. This is, of course, the general un-informed public.

Since this post is 90% off the topic of oil prices, I might as well give my 2 cents on that issue too

The increasing price of oil is a good thing, IMO, however if no one makes alternatives (i.e. the VOLT) the public will be screwed.
It will be take the bus (which will be packed everyday, because no one can afford to get to work in their cars) or if it comes to it, I will make my own electric car! (its not that hard actually. And my brother’s a mechanic, so he can get a shell of a dead car to use )

By: BORNGEARHEAD

BORNGEARHEAD — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:19:40 +0000

I full electric vehicle would be a game changer. An ICE Volt for 2011, is not.

By: Dave G

Dave G — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 01:19:42 +0000

[quote comment="24184"]We have a high level of loyalty to GM, but we are not going to by an inferior car, for more money, even for them.[/quote]

From my point of view, big car companies are not loyal to me, so why should I be loyal to them?

As for the Volt being too little too late, I don’t think so, at least I hope not. I like to believe the Volt is a big deal – a game changer.

By: noel park

noel park — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:25:37 +0000

ug, #20:

Absolutely right.

We have been looking at Aveos and Cobalts as replacements for our beloved but gas guzzling Impala SS. On price and fuel consumption, they are just not competitive with the equivalent models from Toyota and Honda.

As we are not about to buy a Toyota or a Honda, at least not yet, we are just driving the Impala as little as possible. We have a high level of loyalty to GM, but we are not going to by an inferior car, for more money, even for them.

My deep concern is that, if GM does not effectively answer the challenge of the Yaris, the Fit, the Corolla and the Civic, they will be so pummeled in the next 3 years that the emergence of the Volt will be too little, too late, for the corporation.

Also, replacing the Cobalt with a captive import and putting the remaining people in Lordstown out of work is not an answer. If a GM car is an import, we might just as well buy a damned Honda or Toyota and have it over with.

By: Robert V

Robert V — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:03:46 +0000

Tim,

What about the US $ dollar vs Canadian $ ???

Don’t mention!…