The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

The pipeline ransomware thing is a precursor for (maybe) some larger things at play with gas issues coming; the industry has a massive labor shortage (something like 20-25% fewer drivers - and it is a very specialized field).  I think we could be in for a little bit of a rocky path with fuels (if nothing else, price spikes).  I think you Florida peeps (and some of you in the south) are experiencing some of the "shortages" now (due to the pipe line being down).

This brings me to my question, on hoarding.  I get how someone could hoard an item like toilet paper, or a food item, to the best of the ability (within their means).  I'm seeing all over Twitter, leaders pleading for folks not to hoard.  How the hell do you hoard gas?

You fill up your tanks.  Then you buy as many of those plastic red containers with the yellow nozzles as you can and fill them all up as well.

What Artiechoke said. Floridians hoard fuel during every hurricane.

  Sounds dangerous

Not if you store the containers properly.  They need to be in a cool and well ventilated area. 

CF nailed it. Floridians make a run on gas several times a year. It pisses me off.

Surprised no one has manufactured a way to blame it on Trump. YET!!!!! lmfao.............

I don't think filling your tank is hoarding gas.

I did that today.  That's just preparation.  I do that before every hurricane or whenever there are events that may lead to not having the supplies I need.

Hoarding is otherwise taking more than you need -- filling up additional containers, essentially.

I fill up my tank every time I go to the pump, so it was business as usual for me.

Maybe I'm part of the problem.

I definitely got up this morning, saw that there was a shortage on gas and that some pumps were dry, realized I have half a talk and thought "oh, shit.  I don't want to get stuck without gas."  So, I went and filled up this morning.

The first station I drove past was out of gas.  There was a small line at the 2nd place.

I realize that I'm contributing to the shortage by moving the demand of my half-a-tank up by about a week, when I'd normally get the gas.  I just didn't want to risk it.

I was the same with TP, back when it was hard to get.  I normally buy a package, but when you know it's super scarce, I would buy two so that I didn't run out.  And even then, things got a little iffy for a while and I had to share or borrow with family and friends.

Panic increases demand, but some of it is justified.

Turns out the panic is overblown because Florida doesn't get its gas from the pipeline in question.   We got played like fiddles and now gas will go up.

Who did the playing? News sources were saying a day ago there was no need for concern. People created their own panic it seems. No help was needed.

There is a difference though. Da e recognized he wasn't hoarding but pushing gas purchases up a week sooner than normal, when there was no shortage except for  buying gas that wasn't needed, is the exact problem we experienced. Gas stations only hold so much at a time and that was our only shortage. The supply chain is fine.

If everyone stops driving for two weeks we can flatten the curve...

I see all of these posts on Facebook making fun and blaming hoarding, but I think it's overblown.  I can't imagine very many people are filling up buckets with gas.  I think it's people like me, who don't want to be put in a position not to have gas later in the week, so they're not confident to let their tank drop to the normal level before re-filling.

And I'm seeing some friends say that they had to drive to 7 gas stations before they could find gas to get to work.

I wouldn't call it hoarding, but I am not comfortable waiting for my gas tank to empty before starting to look for gas again.  I can definitely see myself driving less until this cools a bit, though.

I continue to be amazed that more Americans aren't interested in plug-in hybrids.

These kind of stories don't even land on my radar.

  Price, most probably

Nicely played. 

I saw today that Ford lauched the electric F-150.  It's the most popular car in America, and though the userbase isn't likely to be moved by environmental concerns, that the bet is that they will eventually be moved by the performance increase, similar to how everyone uses electric drills with an ion battery, rather than plugging into the wall.

When I heard about "the great shortage" I realized I was on quarter tank so I filled up. Drove by 3 gas stations before I could find gas. To my surprise I has caught off guard by a lady filling up a trash can full of gas. It's folks like this that have driven me to looking elsewhere to settle down. Not to say stupidity isn't everywhere, but Florida is another beast.

In regards to electric cars/trucks/ect. I can't see myself buying one anytime soon. The fact that I cannot drive more than 400 miles without recharging doesn't work for me. I take a trip every year somewhere new and I prefer to always drive out of pure enjoyment of the scenery. I drive a Silverado so I eat gas and it's a pain but it's big and it's safe. I can only see myself purchasing an EV when I have a family and settled down as a "around town" vehicle. I won't lie, I'll never give up my long hauling trucks.

That isn't about performance, it's about convenience and mobility. If someone needs the torque they still use plug in tools.

I've owned various plug-in hybrids since 2013.  They're the best of both worlds: on my daily commute, I drive all-electric (the battery is about 35 miles of range), but for longer trips, the car switches over to the gas engine.  I get 40 MPG on gas, with a 9 gallon gas tank.

edit: Here a link to the stats page for my last PHEV:
https://www.voltstats.net/stats/details/7729

I suppose its something to consider. I don't know much regarding hybrids so I wont say no to it, however I prefer to drive large gas guzzlers over smaller vehicles. I remember where I came from (Ford focus hatchback when I was first driving) and I appreciated the MPG but when I was destroyed in an accident I told myself never again.

I highly recommend a RAV4 Prime if you're in the market for that kind of vehicle: 42 electric miles, then it's 38 MPG (with a 14.5 gallon tank) after that.

Unfortunately it's a fairly new model, and the supply is still pretty low.

I appreciate the recommendation. I just bought a new truck last year so I'm gonna run this thing into the ground. Maybe by then they will have something more my style.

Question.  What is the difference between a plug-in hybrid and a parallel hybrid and what would be the better choice according to you?

Until they make a truck that can run all day pulling my 23' boat to the Keys or my enclosed trailer through the mountains that's just a novelty. Many people have trucks just because but those who have them for actually towing or hauling are no where near buying something like that. For a short period of time I had a 4x4 6 cylinder work truck. I got stuck on a job site once and literally could not spin the wheels even in 4 wheel drive. That truck was pretty useless for anything but driving. 

I agree. Most people have both for just such reasons. I have both corded and battery drills, saws, and impact wrenches.

In my line of work, we need to get to utilities that are sometimes back in the woods of future neighborhoods they haven't started, and if I don't have 4x4 you'll get stuck in the mud.  We also have to tow heavy machinery back there sometimes, or trailers full of shell/crushed concrete.  I'd love to drive an electric vehicle since I drive 100 miles round trip every day for work, but it just doesn't perform well enough for what I need.  To get the same towing capacity in the electric F-150, I'd have to spend $90k.

For the electric cars, it's all about incremental steps and improvements. Electric motors run all kinds of heavy machinery, I'm sure we'll eventually get to the point where truck performance is on par with gas performance for 90% of truck owners. At that point, it's just about economies of scale.

Plug in hybrids are a neat idea, I had a co-worker with the BMW i3 that was a plug in hybrid .. seemed ok.

I saw today where the colonial pipeline paid out a few million dollars in ransom to resolve the ransomware attack against them. So lack of private sector competence impacts millions .. again.

Electric cars themselves do almost nothing for the environment. Getting roof top solar helps the environment.

You're mixing terms a bit; almost every plug-in hybrid (PHEV) released in the US is a parallel hybrid.  I think the question you're trying to ask is about a conventional hybrid or HEV (e.g. the original Prius) vs. a PHEV (e.g. a Chevy Volt).

Both HEVs and PHEVs have a gas engine, an electric motor, batteries, and are capable of moving on battery power.  The difference between an HEV and a PHEV is that while a PHEV can be plugged in to directly charge the battery, an HEV ultimately gets all its energy from gasoline; the only way you can refuel an HEV is to add more gasoline to the tank.  The hybrid system in a HEV really just serves to improve MPG a bit, whereas in a PHEV, you can generally drive all-electric the majority of the time and use the gas engine as a backup.

Just to address the other part of your question...
Among hybrids, there are basically two ways to use the gas engine: parallel or serial.  All HEVs and most PHEVs are parallel, which means that the gas engine is capable of powering the drive wheels mechanically.  There are a few serial PHEVs like the BMW i3 REX; in a serial hybrid, the gas engine is not mechanically linked to the wheels, and can only function as a generator for the electric motor.  Serial operation is less fuel efficient at highway speeds, which is why few PHEVs are designed that way.

And finally: if you have the ability to charge your car every night, and your daily commute is less than 20 miles each way, a PHEV could be an extremely good value for you (even more so if you have, or are considering getting, solar panels).