5 ms·

Did that Colorado station sign say gas for only $1.69? Yes, it did

26 points by mooreds 11mo ago

alephnerd 11mo ago
Additionally, ICE sales have started recovering over the past few years now that EV subsidizes have started being phased out in most markets [0]. Even in China, most consumers "despite buying more EVs, are less interested in how their cars are powered, and more in their digital lifestyle integration" [0]. I like EVs but I think that in most markets they're at the same point today that hybrid cars were in the 2010s - proven, but still a difficult financial sell in the short term due to high upfront costs for consumers. Edit: can't reply > Which seems odd in an article claiming the global tide has turned against EVs Becuase China is not the world. Most other markets have seen either a slowdown or a reversal in EV sales - especially following the reduction of EV purchase subsidizes in most markets. It also highlights the fact that a large portion of customers are indifferent about ecological sentiment, and that EVs can only outpace ICE if their upfront cost or net-new features (in China's case, EVs tended to have better features than ICE cars sold domestically) outpace ICE vehicles. Even Chinese automotive players (primarily SOEs that couldn't compete with private sector BYD) have been taking advantage of this market shift, become major ICE car exporters now [1]. [0] - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/combustion-engine-cars-regain-popularity-worldwide-ey-says-2025-12-09/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/combustion-engine-ca... [1] - https://www.reuters.com/investigations/china-floods-world-with-gasoline-cars-it-cant-sell-home-2025-12-02/ https://www.reuters.com/investigations/china-floods-world-wi...
- bombcar 11mo ago
  EVs seem to run $10-15k more than the equivalent ICE - I tried everything I could but couldn't make it worthwhile due to constraints on what is available and inability to get the subsidies.
  - alephnerd 11mo ago
    That's why it's at the same point as Hybrids were 15 years ago. Yet Hybrids have now largely replacing traditional ICE. I think a similar trend will happen for EVs as well within 10-15 years once the current generation of cars are replaced.
    - t-3 11mo ago
      Hybrids are useful for people without garages though - the total market is much larger than for EVs, which are pretty exclusively a product for homeowners, and usually not the only vehicle either. EVs will always be a niche unless the charging infrastructure problem is solved.
      - coldpie 11mo ago
        I agree with your overall point (and I'm pretty confident improved infrastructure will fix the problem for non-homeowners... eventually), but I didn't understand this part: > usually not the only vehicle either It doesn't seem like EV or not would make a difference for whether to have more than one vehicle? My wife and I have shared one car, first ICE and now EV, for more than a decade and it didn't make a difference in our habits.
        t-3 11mo ago
        There's no real reason with modern EVs unless you really love road trips, but I feel like I very rarely meet or hear of EV owners who don't own more than one vehicle. That's probably less of a thing now that most new EVs have decent range.
  - Rover222 11mo ago
    The lightly-used EV market is where it's at, for now.
    - rtkwe 11mo ago
      100% let someone else eat the initial depreciation hit from going from new to used and you can usually get one with pretty low mileage too.
      - bluGill 11mo ago
        So far, but it is hard to find good EVs on the used market. Sometimes you can, but at the moment I'm looking and there just are not many options at all.
        Rover222 11mo ago
        A 1 or 2 yr old Model Y is a great EV...
        bluGill 11mo ago
        Is it? Will I be able to get parts for it 15 years from now? Will I be able to repair it myself? (I have rebuilt engines before, and I'm planning to replace the transmission in my truck myself this year, so DIY ability is important to me). There have been headlines recently about how unreliable Tesla is.
        rtkwe 11mo ago
        Transmissions on EVs are generally single stage speed reduction so yes in the extremely rare chance you need to repair it you can. The motors are way harder to repair but they're similarly way less likely to need repair. Other part availability will vary by brand just like with ICE cars/trucks there's nothing magically less available if we're looking at new parts, older common parts there's a bit of a difference just from the designs being newer so there's a smaller population of junked cars to pull random EV pumps off of the way you can with some old car parts.
  - coldpie 11mo ago
    Yeah, that's why that poster said "upfront" costs. EVs are like 10+ times cheaper than ICE cars in the long term, but we're making our children pay most of the costs of the ICE version, so it's cheaper for us. Yay for us, I guess?
  - bluGill 11mo ago
    There are a lot of "it depends" in the math, it takes somewhere around 60-80k miles to break even on the $10k difference. Most new car owners only keep the car for around 30,000 miles (leases are often 3 years, max of 32,000 miles). And so far EVs are not holding their value as well as ICE cars so a few more miles. Long term EVs are a lot cheaper, but for the new car buyer they don't make financial sense yet. (new car buyers also get a warranty so additional costs are cheap - $600 for oil changes over that time if they buy the most expensive dealer package, and a lot less if they go elsewhere)
- ZeroGravitas 11mo ago
  That quote says Chinese buyers are buying more EVs. Which seems odd in an article claiming the global tide has turned against EVs. It's like some weird 3rd-hand sour grapes. Yes they bought the EV but they don't care about it being an EV! Which matters, for reasons...
  - zobzu 11mo ago
    china stats reporting is worse than US stats - impossible to trust - it'll say everything and nothing every time.
- Workaccount2 11mo ago
  As climate change effects become undeniable and older hard heads die off, people will less and less be interested in fossil fuels. Oil and Gas doesn't even want to make investments that trump is pushing, because all those green subsidies and programs will likely come roaring back in a few years. The government may be gerrymandered and senate locked into a tight battle between red and blue, but consumer sentiment is purely popular vote. The trend is pretty clear that consumers want to get away from fossil fuels.
- kieranmaine 11mo ago
  > Additionally, ICE sales have started recovering over the past few years now that EV subsidizes have started being phased out in most markets I think this is a false dawn. EV sales in Germany have rebounded strongly after the removal of subsidies [1]. "Germany was the largest contributor, with more than 434,600 new EV registrations and one of the strongest growth rates in the bloc, up 39.4% year-on-year" EU EV sales are up in 2025 in comparison with 2024 [1] "Battery electric vehicles accounted for 16.4% of newly registered cars in the EU during the first ten months of 2025, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). That compares with 13.2% over the same period in 2024." 1. https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/11/25/the-electric-transition-which-eu-country-is-buying-the-most-evs https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/11/25/the-electric-tr... 2. https://ev-database.org/uk/#group=vehicle-group&av-1=1&av-23=1&rs-pr=10000_25000&rs-er=0_500&rs-ld=0_500&rs-ac=2_23&rs-dcfc=0_400&rs-ub=10_200&rs-tw=0_2500&rs-ef=150_600&rs-sa=-1_5&rs-w=1000_3500&rs-c=0_5000&rs-y=2024_2030&s=4&p=0-50 https://ev-database.org/uk/#group=vehicle-group&av-1=1&av-23...
Rover222 11mo ago
My brain insists on reading that title as "gas for gays for only $1.69" Would be an interesting promo, I guess.
- ugh123 11mo ago
  How do you verify it?!
  - Rover222 11mo ago
    that's the big question haha
  - BobaFloutist 11mo ago
    With a classic gas-station restroom tradition!
davidw 11mo ago
Meanwhile... https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/ https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
- Noaidi 11mo ago
  Ah...remember the days of 350.org? How cute that seems now. Do you all realize how catastrophic this is?
  - Workaccount2 11mo ago
    When it actually snowed in winter? Yes, in fact I do remember that.
    - Noaidi 11mo ago
      Weather is not climate.
      - Workaccount2 11mo ago
        Over many years, yes, that is in fact climate.
        Capricorn2481 11mo ago
        Not in the manner or scale you're suggesting.
    - timerol 11mo ago
      You're gonna have to locate yourself for this comment to make any sense. Plenty of places still get snow regularly in winter, and nothing humans can do will change that
  - breakingrules3 11mo ago
    [dead]
  - renewiltord 11mo ago
jeffbee 11mo ago
Meanwhile, in civilized nations, the motor fuel tax is often twice that.
- Noaidi 11mo ago
  Yes, as it should be. Currently at Lake Mead with temperatures 15 degrees above average, and Washington state is getting a foot of rain, and the midwest is about to have a 40-50 degree temperature swing. This is climate change, and we are too late.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- mothballed 11mo ago
  Meanwhile, some EV owners smugly recharge their vehicles from carbon burning facilities that then transmit hundreds of miles before it even gets to them, on top of all the manufacturing and battery associated environmental costs. Some reports[0, Table 1] show these coal fueled 'electric' cars are about equivalent to a ~30mpg ICE car all in, but of course at least the ICE driver is paying a motor fuel tax, meanwhile the smug EV owner is paying only a tiny amount of tax on electric utilities. Thus the externalities look way worse for the coal powered electric driver. Of course, if you fuel off of something like solar or natural gas you can do far better, but a lot of people are just stopping at the point they have electric and then patting themselves on the back as superior. [0] https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Cleaner-Cars-from-Cradle-to-Grave-full-report.pdf https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Clean...
  - 4fterd4rk 11mo ago
    And in the United States, what percentage of total generation does coal contribute? And is that rising or falling? Sorry, just being smug with some inconvenient facts.
  - rtkwe 11mo ago
    Coal power is only about 20% of the US power generation at this point so it's not all or even most of a hypothetical EV's power source. So even where it is used 30 MPG is still actually pretty good gas mileage as well especially for their weight and size.
Noaidi 11mo ago
"And it’s because Buc-ee’s is happy to break even at their massive gas pump array in Johnstown so long as you also walk inside and overspend on beef jerky, neck pillows and beaver-themed sleepwear." So gas is cheaper, but you are spending more. This is not a story about gas prices, this is a story of consumer manipulation, dark patterns, monopolistic practices, etc.
- mbg721 11mo ago
  Enh, Buc-ee's isn't a monopoly so much as it is a tourist trap. As dark patterns go, that seems pretty mild to me.
  - Noaidi 11mo ago
    I said "monopolistic practices", I did not say it was a monopoly. "In 2019, shortly after Buc-ee's opened their first store in Alabama, the company was sued for "setting unfair pump prices", because they were selling gasoline to the customers for less money than it costs to buy and transport it to a retail outlet. While it is common within the United States for larger gas station chains to use a pricing strategy where gas is used as a loss leader to draw customers and encourage the sale of other goods, the practice is banned under Alabama state law." _wiki
    - mindslight 11mo ago
      A loss leader isn't a monopolistic practice. They can be related, for example video game consoles can be loss leaders, to build demand for a monopoly on games for that specific console. But that relies on the sticky market effect from a customer owning a particular console, whereas the loss leader on gas has to convince the customer to visit the store every time. If anything that Alabama law seems a bit questionable. As long as gas stations have card readers where you don't even have to go in the store, converting gas customers to convenience store customers seems like quite the uphill battle to me. (modulo the surveillance issues of using payment cards)
  - t1234s 11mo ago
    I've noticed its faster to get the full bucees experience with a tesla instead of trying to park a normal car hit the bathrooms, get drinks and junk food then get in line for gas. Also as a side note they are the only places I've seen mercedes benz charging stations that look mostly abandoned. Last time I was there people were using those spots to park ICE vehicles.
Hasz 11mo ago
That Suncor refinery is in a bit of a fight with the state over environmental pollution. Cheap gas certainly helps improve the political situation for that particular refinery. https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/26/colorado-suncor-water-discharge-permits-protest/ https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/26/colorado-suncor-water-dis...
- bluGill 11mo ago
  My brother in law used to work for a refinery. He always said that politicians attacked them in the media all the time, but when the refinery wanted to expand they never had problems getting all the permits needed. People love to hate on the oil companies (and there is good reason to do so), but they love cheap gas far more than that.
jasonthorsness 11mo ago
And here I am in Washington State still over $4
- breakingrules3 11mo ago
  [dead]
- dawnerd 11mo ago
  Price of gas pretty much follows cost of living.
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]
  - jerlam 11mo ago
    The article shows that the price of gas is the lowest it has been since 2022, despite the price of everything else going up due to inflation.
    - dawnerd 11mo ago
      I meant more regionally. In areas where the cost of living is higher, gas costs more. Likewise, cheaper parts of the country have cheaper gas. Pretty easy to spot the trend. Here in socal its something like 4-5/g.
Workaccount2 11mo ago
People complain about gas prices despite gas being so outrageously cheap compared to everything else. Gas first ticked over $1.79 in April 2004, not adjusted for inflation.[1] Just goes to show that most people are parrots and not actually using their head when stating arguments. [1]https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/leafhandler.ashx?f=m&n=pet&s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/leafhandler.ashx?f=m&n=pet...
- jeffbee 11mo ago
  Retail motor fuel prices have been roughly $2-$5, in current terms, forever. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/realprices/ https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/realprices/
- ramesh31 11mo ago
  It really is remarkable compared to any other consumer good. My 2002 Corolla has cost $20 to fill up since it was brand new. The benefits of empire I guess.
  - Sevii 11mo ago
    The US went from being a net importer to a net exporter during that time period. Makes a big difference in prices.
  - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 11mo ago
    The benefits of Director's Law as well, maybe!
xnx 11mo ago
Adjusted for inflation, gas price hasn't changed much in 50 years, and is about as cheap as it has ever been: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/gasoline-prices-adjusted-for-inflation/ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/gasoline-prices-adjust...
- sieabahlpark 11mo ago
  [dead]
- stronglikedan 11mo ago
  > gas price hasn't changed much in 50 years It's changed much in the last couple of years, so surely it's changed much in the last 50 years.
mindslight 11mo ago
Last time Trample was in office, the price of oil literally went negative - like lets put this crap back in the ground, we don't need all this energy. Small minded negative sum thinking destroys economic activity. King Krasnov squatting in office past his lease would actually be fantastic for averting carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. Sure we'd be burning more coal, as a proportion. But so much less energy overall as our society devolves. And plenty of free time for people to improvise steam engines, cars that run off of woodgas, and whatnot. (the real problems being that other countries will continue growing, destructionist policies set things up so that return of economic activity is even more polluting, and a moribund economy makes responding to climate change chaos much harder)
knappe 11mo ago
Meanwhile that same Suncor facility that is keeping gas prices low is also routinely and continually violating EPA and Colorado air quality standards. [0] It is so bad that the state has implemented fence line monitoring. [1] As someone who lives in Colorado, I'd be happy to see Suncor go. Especially now that I just learned the oil they're refining is Canadian tar sand oil. [0] https://coloradosun.com/2024/02/05/colorado-suncor-air-pollution-settlement-state-fine/ https://coloradosun.com/2024/02/05/colorado-suncor-air-pollu... [1] https://cdphe.colorado.gov/public-information/air-quality-and-the-suncor-refinery https://cdphe.colorado.gov/public-information/air-quality-an...

26 points by mooreds 11mo ago

Additionally, ICE sales have started recovering over the past few years now that EV subsidizes have started being phased out in most markets [0]. Even in China, most consumers "despite buying more EVs, are less interested in how their cars are powered, and more in their digital lifestyle integration" [0]. I like EVs but I think that in most markets they're at the same point today that hybrid cars were in the 2010s - proven, but still a difficult financial sell in the short term due to high upfront costs for consumers. Edit: can't reply > Which seems odd in an article claiming the global tide has turned against EVs Becuase China is not the world. Most other markets have seen either a slowdown or a reversal in EV sales - especially following the reduction of EV purchase subsidizes in most markets. It also highlights the fact that a large portion of customers are indifferent about ecological sentiment, and that EVs can only outpace ICE if their upfront cost or net-new features (in China's case, EVs tended to have better features than ICE cars sold domestically) outpace ICE vehicles. Even Chinese automotive players (primarily SOEs that couldn't compete with private sector BYD) have been taking advantage of this market shift, become major ICE car exporters now [1]. [0] - https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/combustion-engine-cars-regain-popularity-worldwide-ey-says-2025-12-09/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/combustion-engine-ca... [1] - https://www.reuters.com/investigations/china-floods-world-with-gasoline-cars-it-cant-sell-home-2025-12-02/ https://www.reuters.com/investigations/china-floods-world-wi...

bombcar 11mo ago
EVs seem to run $10-15k more than the equivalent ICE - I tried everything I could but couldn't make it worthwhile due to constraints on what is available and inability to get the subsidies.
- alephnerd 11mo ago
  That's why it's at the same point as Hybrids were 15 years ago. Yet Hybrids have now largely replacing traditional ICE. I think a similar trend will happen for EVs as well within 10-15 years once the current generation of cars are replaced.
  - t-3 11mo ago
    Hybrids are useful for people without garages though - the total market is much larger than for EVs, which are pretty exclusively a product for homeowners, and usually not the only vehicle either. EVs will always be a niche unless the charging infrastructure problem is solved.
    - coldpie 11mo ago
      I agree with your overall point (and I'm pretty confident improved infrastructure will fix the problem for non-homeowners... eventually), but I didn't understand this part: > usually not the only vehicle either It doesn't seem like EV or not would make a difference for whether to have more than one vehicle? My wife and I have shared one car, first ICE and now EV, for more than a decade and it didn't make a difference in our habits.
      - t-3 11mo ago
        There's no real reason with modern EVs unless you really love road trips, but I feel like I very rarely meet or hear of EV owners who don't own more than one vehicle. That's probably less of a thing now that most new EVs have decent range.
- Rover222 11mo ago
  The lightly-used EV market is where it's at, for now.
  - rtkwe 11mo ago
    100% let someone else eat the initial depreciation hit from going from new to used and you can usually get one with pretty low mileage too.
    - bluGill 11mo ago
      So far, but it is hard to find good EVs on the used market. Sometimes you can, but at the moment I'm looking and there just are not many options at all.
      - Rover222 11mo ago
        A 1 or 2 yr old Model Y is a great EV...
        bluGill 11mo ago
        Is it? Will I be able to get parts for it 15 years from now? Will I be able to repair it myself? (I have rebuilt engines before, and I'm planning to replace the transmission in my truck myself this year, so DIY ability is important to me). There have been headlines recently about how unreliable Tesla is.
        rtkwe 11mo ago
        Transmissions on EVs are generally single stage speed reduction so yes in the extremely rare chance you need to repair it you can. The motors are way harder to repair but they're similarly way less likely to need repair. Other part availability will vary by brand just like with ICE cars/trucks there's nothing magically less available if we're looking at new parts, older common parts there's a bit of a difference just from the designs being newer so there's a smaller population of junked cars to pull random EV pumps off of the way you can with some old car parts.
- coldpie 11mo ago
  Yeah, that's why that poster said "upfront" costs. EVs are like 10+ times cheaper than ICE cars in the long term, but we're making our children pay most of the costs of the ICE version, so it's cheaper for us. Yay for us, I guess?
- bluGill 11mo ago
  There are a lot of "it depends" in the math, it takes somewhere around 60-80k miles to break even on the $10k difference. Most new car owners only keep the car for around 30,000 miles (leases are often 3 years, max of 32,000 miles). And so far EVs are not holding their value as well as ICE cars so a few more miles. Long term EVs are a lot cheaper, but for the new car buyer they don't make financial sense yet. (new car buyers also get a warranty so additional costs are cheap - $600 for oil changes over that time if they buy the most expensive dealer package, and a lot less if they go elsewhere)
ZeroGravitas 11mo ago
That quote says Chinese buyers are buying more EVs. Which seems odd in an article claiming the global tide has turned against EVs. It's like some weird 3rd-hand sour grapes. Yes they bought the EV but they don't care about it being an EV! Which matters, for reasons...
- zobzu 11mo ago
  china stats reporting is worse than US stats - impossible to trust - it'll say everything and nothing every time.
Workaccount2 11mo ago
As climate change effects become undeniable and older hard heads die off, people will less and less be interested in fossil fuels. Oil and Gas doesn't even want to make investments that trump is pushing, because all those green subsidies and programs will likely come roaring back in a few years. The government may be gerrymandered and senate locked into a tight battle between red and blue, but consumer sentiment is purely popular vote. The trend is pretty clear that consumers want to get away from fossil fuels.
kieranmaine 11mo ago
> Additionally, ICE sales have started recovering over the past few years now that EV subsidizes have started being phased out in most markets I think this is a false dawn. EV sales in Germany have rebounded strongly after the removal of subsidies [1]. "Germany was the largest contributor, with more than 434,600 new EV registrations and one of the strongest growth rates in the bloc, up 39.4% year-on-year" EU EV sales are up in 2025 in comparison with 2024 [1] "Battery electric vehicles accounted for 16.4% of newly registered cars in the EU during the first ten months of 2025, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). That compares with 13.2% over the same period in 2024." 1. https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/11/25/the-electric-transition-which-eu-country-is-buying-the-most-evs https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/11/25/the-electric-tr... 2. https://ev-database.org/uk/#group=vehicle-group&av-1=1&av-23=1&rs-pr=10000_25000&rs-er=0_500&rs-ld=0_500&rs-ac=2_23&rs-dcfc=0_400&rs-ub=10_200&rs-tw=0_2500&rs-ef=150_600&rs-sa=-1_5&rs-w=1000_3500&rs-c=0_5000&rs-y=2024_2030&s=4&p=0-50 https://ev-database.org/uk/#group=vehicle-group&av-1=1&av-23...

Rover222 11mo ago

My brain insists on reading that title as "gas for gays for only $1.69" Would be an interesting promo, I guess.

ugh123 11mo ago
How do you verify it?!
- Rover222 11mo ago
  that's the big question haha
- BobaFloutist 11mo ago
  With a classic gas-station restroom tradition!

davidw 11mo ago

Meanwhile... https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/ https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/

Noaidi 11mo ago
Ah...remember the days of 350.org? How cute that seems now. Do you all realize how catastrophic this is?
- Workaccount2 11mo ago
  When it actually snowed in winter? Yes, in fact I do remember that.
  - Noaidi 11mo ago
    Weather is not climate.
    - Workaccount2 11mo ago
      Over many years, yes, that is in fact climate.
      - Capricorn2481 11mo ago
        Not in the manner or scale you're suggesting.
  - timerol 11mo ago
    You're gonna have to locate yourself for this comment to make any sense. Plenty of places still get snow regularly in winter, and nothing humans can do will change that
- breakingrules3 11mo ago
  [dead]
- renewiltord 11mo ago

jeffbee 11mo ago

Meanwhile, in civilized nations, the motor fuel tax is often twice that.

Noaidi 11mo ago
Yes, as it should be. Currently at Lake Mead with temperatures 15 degrees above average, and Washington state is getting a foot of rain, and the midwest is about to have a 40-50 degree temperature swing. This is climate change, and we are too late.
deleted 11mo ago
[deleted]
mothballed 11mo ago
Meanwhile, some EV owners smugly recharge their vehicles from carbon burning facilities that then transmit hundreds of miles before it even gets to them, on top of all the manufacturing and battery associated environmental costs. Some reports[0, Table 1] show these coal fueled 'electric' cars are about equivalent to a ~30mpg ICE car all in, but of course at least the ICE driver is paying a motor fuel tax, meanwhile the smug EV owner is paying only a tiny amount of tax on electric utilities. Thus the externalities look way worse for the coal powered electric driver. Of course, if you fuel off of something like solar or natural gas you can do far better, but a lot of people are just stopping at the point they have electric and then patting themselves on the back as superior. [0] https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Cleaner-Cars-from-Cradle-to-Grave-full-report.pdf https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Clean...
- 4fterd4rk 11mo ago
  And in the United States, what percentage of total generation does coal contribute? And is that rising or falling? Sorry, just being smug with some inconvenient facts.
- rtkwe 11mo ago
  Coal power is only about 20% of the US power generation at this point so it's not all or even most of a hypothetical EV's power source. So even where it is used 30 MPG is still actually pretty good gas mileage as well especially for their weight and size.

Noaidi 11mo ago

"And it’s because Buc-ee’s is happy to break even at their massive gas pump array in Johnstown so long as you also walk inside and overspend on beef jerky, neck pillows and beaver-themed sleepwear." So gas is cheaper, but you are spending more. This is not a story about gas prices, this is a story of consumer manipulation, dark patterns, monopolistic practices, etc.

mbg721 11mo ago
Enh, Buc-ee's isn't a monopoly so much as it is a tourist trap. As dark patterns go, that seems pretty mild to me.
- Noaidi 11mo ago
  I said "monopolistic practices", I did not say it was a monopoly. "In 2019, shortly after Buc-ee's opened their first store in Alabama, the company was sued for "setting unfair pump prices", because they were selling gasoline to the customers for less money than it costs to buy and transport it to a retail outlet. While it is common within the United States for larger gas station chains to use a pricing strategy where gas is used as a loss leader to draw customers and encourage the sale of other goods, the practice is banned under Alabama state law." _wiki
  - mindslight 11mo ago
    A loss leader isn't a monopolistic practice. They can be related, for example video game consoles can be loss leaders, to build demand for a monopoly on games for that specific console. But that relies on the sticky market effect from a customer owning a particular console, whereas the loss leader on gas has to convince the customer to visit the store every time. If anything that Alabama law seems a bit questionable. As long as gas stations have card readers where you don't even have to go in the store, converting gas customers to convenience store customers seems like quite the uphill battle to me. (modulo the surveillance issues of using payment cards)
- t1234s 11mo ago
  I've noticed its faster to get the full bucees experience with a tesla instead of trying to park a normal car hit the bathrooms, get drinks and junk food then get in line for gas. Also as a side note they are the only places I've seen mercedes benz charging stations that look mostly abandoned. Last time I was there people were using those spots to park ICE vehicles.

Hasz 11mo ago

That Suncor refinery is in a bit of a fight with the state over environmental pollution. Cheap gas certainly helps improve the political situation for that particular refinery. https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/26/colorado-suncor-water-discharge-permits-protest/ https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/26/colorado-suncor-water-dis...

bluGill 11mo ago
My brother in law used to work for a refinery. He always said that politicians attacked them in the media all the time, but when the refinery wanted to expand they never had problems getting all the permits needed. People love to hate on the oil companies (and there is good reason to do so), but they love cheap gas far more than that.

jasonthorsness 11mo ago

And here I am in Washington State still over $4

breakingrules3 11mo ago
[dead]
dawnerd 11mo ago
Price of gas pretty much follows cost of living.
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- jerlam 11mo ago
  The article shows that the price of gas is the lowest it has been since 2022, despite the price of everything else going up due to inflation.
  - dawnerd 11mo ago
    I meant more regionally. In areas where the cost of living is higher, gas costs more. Likewise, cheaper parts of the country have cheaper gas. Pretty easy to spot the trend. Here in socal its something like 4-5/g.

Workaccount2 11mo ago

People complain about gas prices despite gas being so outrageously cheap compared to everything else. Gas first ticked over $1.79 in April 2004, not adjusted for inflation.[1] Just goes to show that most people are parrots and not actually using their head when stating arguments. [1]https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/leafhandler.ashx?f=m&n=pet&s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/leafhandler.ashx?f=m&n=pet...

jeffbee 11mo ago
Retail motor fuel prices have been roughly $2-$5, in current terms, forever. https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/realprices/ https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/realprices/
ramesh31 11mo ago
It really is remarkable compared to any other consumer good. My 2002 Corolla has cost $20 to fill up since it was brand new. The benefits of empire I guess.
- Sevii 11mo ago
  The US went from being a net importer to a net exporter during that time period. Makes a big difference in prices.
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 11mo ago
  The benefits of Director's Law as well, maybe!

xnx 11mo ago

Adjusted for inflation, gas price hasn't changed much in 50 years, and is about as cheap as it has ever been: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/gasoline-prices-adjusted-for-inflation/ https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/gasoline-prices-adjust...

sieabahlpark 11mo ago
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stronglikedan 11mo ago
> gas price hasn't changed much in 50 years It's changed much in the last couple of years, so surely it's changed much in the last 50 years.

mindslight 11mo ago

Last time Trample was in office, the price of oil literally went negative - like lets put this crap back in the ground, we don't need all this energy. Small minded negative sum thinking destroys economic activity. King Krasnov squatting in office past his lease would actually be fantastic for averting carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. Sure we'd be burning more coal, as a proportion. But so much less energy overall as our society devolves. And plenty of free time for people to improvise steam engines, cars that run off of woodgas, and whatnot. (the real problems being that other countries will continue growing, destructionist policies set things up so that return of economic activity is even more polluting, and a moribund economy makes responding to climate change chaos much harder)

knappe 11mo ago

Meanwhile that same Suncor facility that is keeping gas prices low is also routinely and continually violating EPA and Colorado air quality standards. [0] It is so bad that the state has implemented fence line monitoring. [1] As someone who lives in Colorado, I'd be happy to see Suncor go. Especially now that I just learned the oil they're refining is Canadian tar sand oil. [0] https://coloradosun.com/2024/02/05/colorado-suncor-air-pollution-settlement-state-fine/ https://coloradosun.com/2024/02/05/colorado-suncor-air-pollu... [1] https://cdphe.colorado.gov/public-information/air-quality-and-the-suncor-refinery https://cdphe.colorado.gov/public-information/air-quality-an...