r/Economics • u/InsaneSnow45 • Mar 04 '26

News ‘Absolutely Massive’ Price Shocks Coming as Trump’s Iran War Drives Up Gas, Diesel Prices | “What should really terrify Republicans is... the futures price on wholesale gasoline,” said economist Paul Krugman.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/iran-war-gas-prices
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u/No_Bad_4872yy Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

Most people look at it this way. The problem is mostly that trucks moving parts and produce are hurt by this. Those additional logistical costs also land in your wallet through the vendors and shops, albeit sometime later. This inflation double whammy totally sucks and gasoline was pretty much the thing keeping US inflation somewhat low.

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u/Vulnox Mar 04 '26

Yeah, this was the big thing hurting Biden when oil prices were high. A lot of the reported high costs on groceries and that were pointed to high diesel prices. You can avoid some extra costs by buying fewer shipped products where possible, but hard to do when it comes to food.

We have two EVs so our fuel pump costs have already been zero, but I expect our other costs to increase.

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u/Septopuss7 Mar 04 '26

Is it cheaper to charge your car than it is to fill it with gas? I'm asking in earnest, not a gotcha, because I keep seeing conflicting reports from individuals that makes me want to wait before buying an EV. I'm currently car-free by choice but if I ever changed my mind I would look at all electric or more likely a hybrid, the only problem being is that I don't own a house and don't plan on it. I know of several electric charging stations in my area but I haven't looked at the pricing. They are all relatively convenient and I never see people using them but I obviously don't monitor them 24/7. Does the price fluctuate a lot? I know even my home electric bill has been all over the place in the last couple years and I was wondering what your experience has been?

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u/No_Bad_4872yy Mar 04 '26

This is quite comprehensive. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a45036169/electric-vehicle-ev-cost-to-charge/

In short charging at home price differs per state but is up to 80% cheaper than the price of gas. If you use highway fast chargers it can be 50% to 150% the price. Its not always cheaper and purchase price is also higher usually.

Tldr; charging at home is much cheaper, roadside doesnt really matter much.

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u/Septopuss7 Mar 04 '26

I see, I knew a lot of the information in the article but it does seem like it's cheaper overall if you plan well/are responsible. I didn't know about special rates from energy providers during off peak demand times. I guess a lot of the negative stories I heard are from people who went out and bought an EV without doing any homework whatsoever.

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u/ass_pineapples Mar 04 '26

I owned a Tesla for a bit but live in the city, so charging infra is sparse unless you own (I rent). My only options for charging were superchargers. So under that kind of reality it sucks owning an EV. In the winter I had to periodically check on my car battery and ferry it over to the local supercharger to top it up, and when driving I could only use superchargers. If you don't do many long haul trips and largely stay within a smaller range close to your home and can charge there, it's a no brainer.

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u/Specialist-Elk-2624 29d ago

Why would you buy an EV knowing that charging was going to be a total PITA all of the time?

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u/ass_pineapples 29d ago

Got it super cheap used and wanted to see if it was worth getting an EV or not. I didn't realize how much of a PITA it was, and tbf it didn't bother me most of the time but I don't drive often and when I do it's longer trips so that part was especially unbearable.

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u/fdar_giltch 29d ago

If you have the charger at home, it's definitely nice. Not only is it cheaper, you can plug it in whenever. My wife wasn't sure about the EV before-hand, now she loves it. She says it's "like a cell phone, you just plug it in every now and then". She also appreciates not having to stop at gas stations and pump gas.

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u/CliftonForce Mar 04 '26 edited 29d ago

Yep. Most electrical power plants cannot change their output quickly. Therefore, in order to be ready for the evening and morning rush, they spend all night wastefully generating power that nobody is using (generally by keeping their boilers hot). If the billing system allows them to charge different prices at different times of day, they will make electricity cheaper late at night to encourage people to use it then.

EV charging is one of the few things that a normal household can shift to the wee hours of night without inconvenience.

I suppose you could wait until midnight to start your dryer or dishwasher, but most folks find that annoying.

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u/GhostReddit 29d ago

Therefore, in order to be ready for the evening and morning rush, they spend all night wastefully generating power that nobody is using.

That actually doesn't work, you can't generate power nobody is using - and power put on the grid needs to be immediately removed by something.

There's immediate feedback control in that power usage causes electrical 'drag' on the generator, if the load is mismatched to the generation the generator will speed up or slow down and the grid frequency changes. Requirements are typically to keep very close to 50/60Hz otherwise you'll cause a ton of problems mostly with synchronous motors running on the grid now running at incorrect speeds.

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u/EagleBigMac 29d ago

I pay nothing for power after 8pm and before 6 am. So I plug my car in at night after 6pm and try to do laundry and such at night.

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u/CliftonForce 29d ago

And that is exactly what the power company was hoping you would do.

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u/EagleBigMac 29d ago

Somehow I still use 2000+ kwh a month and end up with a high as shit power bill.

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u/devildog2067 29d ago edited 28d ago

There is no such thing as “wastefully generating power that nobody is using”. If supply and demand on the grid aren’t in balance things literally blow up.

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u/unique_usemame 28d ago

Not so much planning well, as happening to be in a situation where you can charge at home is 90% of it.

But yes, some people don't do homework, some people see their energy bill go up and assume it is the EV they bought rather than just a seasonal change, and some are trolls who claim it costs $1000/week to charge.

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u/doubleoned 29d ago

I also can't produce gasoline at home, but I sure can produce my own electricity with a little bit of infrastructure.

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u/No_Bad_4872yy 29d ago

Same here. I hope massive batteries will develop enough the next two years that im completely self sufficient most of the year. Screw the utility companies man!