I heard on the news last night that some well meaning (but misguided) souls have been trying to arrange for yet another gas boycott to protest increasing prices. Unfortunately, gas boycotts don’t work — and for good reason. People don’t actually drive less. Rather, they fill up the day before or the day after, but end up using just as much gas. In other words, overall demand is unchanged, and the boycott has no effect whatsoever.

If you want to make a difference, the answer is simple: drive less.

On our way home from vacation this past weekend, I paid over $50 to fill up on gas for the first time ever. I knew this day was coming sooner or later, as I’ve flirted with this number at times in the past, and I also regularly see $70-$80 (or more) purchases when I pull up to a pump after a big SUV pulls away. But still… It was a bit unsettling to stand there and watch the numbers scroll by until they settled just shy of $58. [more]

On the heels of Honda’s announcement that they’re discontinuing the Accord hybrid and GM’s news that the’re introducing hybrid versions of the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon mega-SUVs we have this… News from Honda that they’ve developed a clean-diesel Accord that gets just shy of 63 mpg on the highway. And guess what? It should be available in the United States in 2010. Now if they’d only make a station wagon version I’d be in heaven. Yes, I realize that station wagons aren’t particularly cool, but they’re incredibly practical — even moreso when you throw in that kind of mileage.

[Source: Switched.com]

General Motors recently announced that they expect a 40% mileage boost for city driving for the hybrid versions of their big SUVs. Sounds great, but guess what? This would bring their city mpg estimates of the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon up to just 19 or 20 miles per gallon (these same vehicles will get a projected 20-21 mpg in highway driving).

While other brands are boasting 50-80% gains for their largest SUVs, GM doesn’t want to sacrifice towing capacity or off-road performance. Thus, they’re using a conventional four wheel drive system with low-range gears that will give soccer moms across the country the ability to tow up to 6200 pounds as well as the freedom to drive in mud or sand.

The downside for GM is that they’re projecting a lost on the sale of each hybrid, with the hybrid hardware adding $10,000 to the cost of each vehicle produced. While they’ll almost certainly add some of that back to the sticker price, they won’t be able to tack it all on and still sell vehicles. If these new hybrids catch on, however, GM will be able to push down the component costs and (hopefully) turn a profit.

My take: While I’m a huge fan of energy conservation, I hardly think that hybrid mega-SUVs are the way to do it. It’s better than nothing, but simply buying a smaller car would do way more to reduce your fuel consumption. Yes, I realize that there are circumstances in which such vehicles are necessary, but the vast majority of people don’t really need a monstrous vehicle. Okay, I’ll get of my soapbox now.

[Source: USA Today]

Honda announced today that it will discontinue the production of Accord hybrids due to Toyota’s market dominance with the Prius hybrid. They will, however, continue producing Civic hybrids, which have fared somewhat better since their introduction. Since going on sale in 2004, the Accord hybrid has sold just 25,000 units, including 6,100 in 2006. In just the last month, 439 Accord hybrids have sold nationwide, as compared to 24,000 Prius hybrids.

While at least part of this difference has been ascribed to the fact that the mileage advantage of a hybrid is most pronounced in a smaller car, such as the Prius or Civic, Toyota still offers a hybrid Camry as well as hybrid Lexus models.

[Source: MSN/Money]

In case you haven’t noticed, gas prices have been shooting up over the past few weeks. The runup has been driven by increased demand, as consumption is increasing twice as fast as last year, and it will likely accelerate in late May when the summer driving season begins. According to James Mulva, CEO of ConocoPhillips, “We’re surprised by … the increased demand. Even though the price of gasoline is up, the demand is up.” [more]

I just saw a news report about a gas station near the Orlando, FL airport charging over $4/gallon for gas — the average price in the area at the time was $2.87/gallon. As it turns out, they hadn’t posted their prices on any signs, and were apparently hoping that motorists would start filling up without looking at the price on the pump. And guess what? It worked. A number of people just started pumping and then had a rude awakening when it came time to pay.

[Source: Orlando News-Press]

Yesterday morning I had a brush with the law. I was late for a meeting, and was driving like a bat out of hell when I crested a hill and crossed paths with a local deputy who was headed in the other direction. If you’ve ever looked in your rear-view mirror and seen the long arm of the law hit the brakes and turn around, you’ll know the sinking feeling that I had at that moment. The good news (for me, anyway) is that I drove away without a speeding ticket. [more]

I noted last week that my wife got in a fender bender. It was totally not her fault — someone rear-ended our Honda Odyssey when she was out and about. Anyway, we decided to pursue the claim directly through the other driver’s insurance company (Grange). Shortly after the incident, my wife went to a local body shop and got an estimate for the repair. Grange then cut a check to us for the cost of the repair, and we can (apparently) just sign it over to the body shop to cover the cost of the repair. Either that or we could do the truly frugal thing and deposit the check and charge the repair on a reward credit card… Actually, a truly frugal move would be to pocket the cash and drive around with a dented bumper. Anyway, the check arrived yesterday, so now all we need to do is schedule the repair.

Last week my wife was out and about with the boys in our Honda Odyssey when she got rear-ended. Fortunately, it wasn’t a big deal, and the damage appears to have been largely cosmetic. Still, she went ahead and called our insurance agent, who advised that she call the police. She did, and when they showed up she and the other driver explained what happened (it was completely the other driver’s fault) and they wrote up the report.

We subsequently learned that we could proceed one of two ways: (1) We could go through our insurance (State Farm), pay the $500 deductible up front, and then get it back when we they get the money back from the other insurance company, or (2) we could contact the other driver’s insurance company (Grange), get the car fixed, and have them pay for it directly.

Long story short… My wife ended up contacting Grange directly late last week, and yesterday she took the car in for an estimate. As it turns, they’ll have to replace the bumper to the tune of a bit over $700. Stay tuned for further details.