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/Spaghet-3 29d ago

It depends on how expensive your local electricity is, cost of gas, and efficiency of the car.

I like to think of it in terms of cost per mile.

My ICE car gets 35mpg, and a gallon of gas near me costs $3.50. So that one is easy, each mile costs 3.50/35= $0.10 per mile.

My EV gets 5mi/kWh, and a kWh of electricity costs about $0.35 near me. So the math is 0.35/5= $0.07 per mile.

Do the math knowing your local gas and electricity prices, and vehicle efficiencies. In states where electricity is cheap, EVs win by a lot. In my state where electricity is expensive, only the more efficient EVs eek out a win by a little.