How long before fuel becomes 'unaffordable'

[BillyTheKid]

i posted about this on an automotive forum i frequent, got some useful info about bio fuels and the such, just wanted your take on the issue.

petrol prices have gone up 94% since 2002, between 1992 and 2002 they rose 60% but less than 10% the 10 years before that.

i drive one of the most economical budget (under £1000) cars you can get, but its still costs me £6 a day to get to and from work. thats an hour i have to work before it is even worth me being there.

oil is a non renewable resource and its price will only go up at an exponential rate as fas as im concerned.

and tax is the same, as we all find ways of saving money and paying less tax towards the government (quiting smoking, drinking less, working cash in hand, getting better emmision cars etc) as well as high unemployment (less income tax being paid, but having to pay out more in benefits)the government has to find a way to fill that deficit.
they will do this by upping the tax on the one thing we 'need', fuel.

i spend nearly £200 on fuel a month, thats 20% of my income, just to get palces.

i could not afford it if it went up but another 50%. and if/when they bring in new tax/mot/insurance rules and make older cars impossible to run (another scheme to fill their pockets), could i afford a new £10K car? could you?

[Scythe13]

Oil will continue to be affordable, until another alternative fuel is easier to produce and make a profit on. That's the base economic truth of it.

If it costs £0.50 to get 1 litre of fuel from the ground to your car, then the price mark up from ground to pump is £0.85 When a litre can be grown for £0.50 and sold for the same price with the same mark-up of (for this example) £0.85, then that will be when oil becomes too expensive.


But it all depends on what person sees as too expensive. If it costs 1% of your salary to run your car, it's affordable. If it's 50%, then it'll be unaffordable to more people.

Each person will have their separate threshold.

[Geordie_Rob]

If it goes up beyond £1.60/ltr for unleaded, I won't be able to afford it. I'm already considering getting myself a 50cc moped, but splashing out a grand or so upfront for a decent 2nd hand one is another stumbling block.

[bigpaul]

depends where you live, in the countryside we dont have readilly accessible public transport, and when it is it dosent always go where people want to go, so most people in rural areas HAVE to have a car no matter what it costs.

[NorthernRaider]

I cannot afford it now, I used to travel quite a bit but now I dont go far at all, the cost of fuel is still mainly tax though, we are bled dry with vehicle excise duty, VAT, Fuel duty etc to subsidise the disgustingly bloated and lavish welfare state.

[Scythe13]

(19 November 2012, 18:31)Geordie_Rob Wrote: If it goes up beyond £1.60/ltr for unleaded, I won't be able to afford it. I'm already considering getting myself a 50cc moped, but splashing out a grand or so upfront for a decent 2nd hand one is another stumbling block.

That's something I've been looking into more recently. Getting a bike. Not so good in the cold/snow/ice. But MUCH more affordable for fuel and the alike.

[NorthernRaider]

NOW would be a good time for Enfield to relaunch the 500 cc diesel bullet back to the UK.

[Scythe13]

(19 November 2012, 18:49)NorthernRaider Wrote: NOW would be a good time for Enfield to relaunch the 500 cc diesel bullet back to the UK.

SOLD!

[NorthernRaider]

I wunner wot happened to the Kawasaki KLR 650 diesel / multi fuel bike project they were developing for the US military?

[BillyTheKid]

agreed there will alway be the people that HAVE to buy fuel so will pay it no matter the cost, but 20% of my income is to much for me, and quite a lot of other.

love the idea of a multi fuel bike, wonder if there are any engines you could fit into an old frame?