I’m an engineer working in electrical grid equipment.

Depends on your bar for usability. If you’re not doing any interstate travel, a Bolt is more than enough, and you can pick up a used one for the same price as a Honda Fit of the same year. These days, with how hard it is to find base models, a new Bolt goes for the same as a new Prius.

I haven’t kept close track of this story, so fill me in: what (if anything) should Congress be doing about gas prices?

3rd Gear:

That’s a lot of words to say “oil companies love profit.”

TL;DR: Oil companies love scarcity, and they don’t want to ruin a good thing by ending it.

Corporations will always disappoint you in the end if the question is anything other than “how will they make the most money?”

People usually buy more than they need, with little regard to waste. That’s not exactly a groundbreaking claim.

For perspective:

Going from a Fiesta with 27mpg city to a Maverick with 42mpg city is a step in the right direction.

Most DC fast chargers (including ChargePoint) charge per-minute idling fees to prevent exactly this.

I’m about as far left as it gets in the US, and even I’m pretty horrified. It’s a huge red flag and way too similar to how US police target “undesirables” with civil asset forfeiture.

It’s worth repeating: the gas tax is regressive. Those who cannot avoid the tax are those with the least ability to pay.

The tragedy of commons is the achilles’ heel of the free market. It can only be solved through intervention.

The damage increases exponentially with per-axle weight. According to the US GAO, a semi causes as much road wear as 9,600 cars.

Federal minimum is still $7.25/hr. The highest state minimum is Washington at $14.49/hr. The highest city minimum is Seattle at $17.27/hr. So it depends on where you live.

In the US, ambulance drivers make a median $16/hr.

The Polestar 2 has about the same dimensions as a Chevy Malibu. Definitely not an SUV.

Covid is still around 2k deaths per day, more than all forms of cancer combined. (Source: Johns Hopkins.) I wouldn’t start waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner until we’re down around 200 deaths per day (closer to the flu).

DeJoy also has $70 million invested in USPS competitors.