subject: Gas Prices: What Can Be Done? [print this page] Hyundai cars can offer a respite from paying more at the pump. The average American pays over $2600 a year on gas. The U.S Department of Energy estimates that hybrid owners will save 30-60% a year on gas. That could be almost $1800 a year! Think of that amount of the life of car, which for Hyundai cars will be over 10 years. That is a lot of money! Even if someone purchases a Hyundai Sonata lease and it is 10% more fuel efficient than the car they drive now, they end up saving hundreds a year.
Money is the not the only reason to make the switch however. There are also environmental concerns. When you lease a Hyundai you save gas every time you drive. That means less greenhouse gases in the environment. It also reduces the need to drill for oil which can cause a host of environmental problems, especially when it is done outside of America where regulations can be lax. Even in the US, the BP oil spill was an environmental and economic disaster.
Another problem with the reliance on foreign oil is that is creates strange bedfellow, so to speak. Often authoritarian regimes that the US would normally have nothing to do with, say Saudi Arabia, become entwined with the US. Why? Because they have the oil that fuels our cars and makes our economy run. If people owned hybrid Hyundai cars, the US could rely more heavily on domestic oil which we could harvest responsibility and then avoid dealing with hostile governments.
As less and less oil is available the competition to get what is left is becoming fierce. Russia, China, and India are all countries who are actively competing with the US for what remains of the world's oil. Often times these other nations are not willing to play by the rules. They will bribe local officials, arm oppressive regimes and do other unsavory things to get oil.
Gas prices have spiked many times in the past 10 years. As oil becomes scarcer, prices will continue to rise and fluctuate dramatically. A fuel efficient Hyundai Elantra lease just makes sense. Politicians promise lower prices on gas but they are at the mercy of big oil companies and the world oil market. There just is not much they can do. We need to make the switch to more fuel efficient vehicles or we will continue to suffer the ravages of the oil market.
