Emergency measures on managing fuel distribution in Australia might soon be enacted

Legislation was created for this exact situation in the 1980's.

Today diesel prices in my area have gone over A$3 per litre, and I can't top up my diesel vehicle until I get paid after Thurs night so it could end up being more expensive by then.

I plan on filling my two 20 litre jerry cans as well as the tanks of the vehicle. The main tank (90 L capacity) of the vehicle is nearly empty but secondary tank (50L) is still full, so it'll be a 120 L purchase costing over A$350 if the per litre price doesn't jack up much more in the next couple of days.

For those in the USA, what prices are you paying in your area for diesel since Trump's phony war caused prices to rise?

A$3 per litre equates to about A$11 per 'gallon equivalent' for 3.785 litres of diesel.

My job is freight trains, which run on diesel. If diesel for trains, like diesel for trucks, and diesel for farming, mining, manufacturing, etc. dries up, freight stops moving, mines/farms/factories stop functioning, product can't get transported from farms or mines to factories or shops or ports. Shops run out of food.

Employees can't get to work as they either can't get fuel, or can't afford to buy fuel. Buying energy (fuel or electricity) will overtake buiying food, etc. in importance.

EV's are stil largely impractical for most people here because of how Australia's population density is spatially laid out so while there might be a rush to buy them right now, that means demand goes up as do prices. It also means demand on the electricity grid, and for solar, etc goes up (as do prices).

So EV lovers get a very temporary 'win' that quickly evaporates. My work provides no EV charging facilities on site. Most shopping centres around here have no EV charging facilities. Anyone who lives in an apartment building probably has no EV charging availability.

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Thevy29 · 41-45, M

I finally got my L's driving licence last week... and now I can't afford to drive 😅

MisterBander

@Thevy29 Get an EV, they are way more fun to drive and super cheap. Gas up at home too while you sleep. Don't listen to all the gas lovers who have never driven an EV. They are just being stubborn.
https://www.evchargingmap.com.au/

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@MisterBander No we're being practical for the most part.

EV charging at home presumes you have off-street parking, and the power system of you home can support a L2 (or L3 if you're super-rich) charger. Charging an EV with a cable dangling over a footpath is unsafe and irresponsible.

I've driven bybrids but not full BEV's. BEV won't work for my driving requirements.

EV's new are still not cheap, and there's basically zero market for used EV's (at least here). Also nearly all EV's are leased on 5 yr novated leased so at the end of the lease they are 'dumped' and replaced with something else. That's not very 'responsible' from an environmental angle.

I don't claim to be an arbiter of social and moral high ground since I have two 34 yr old vehicles - diesel 4wd still with original motor, petrol car with original motor. But they do far more for me than any current generation 'appliance on wheels' EV's can.

EV's are great for runabout cars with low range requirements. EV's are pathetic as work vehicles (for tradies), for emergency response, for heavy haulage. Tech might get better as EV's become more mature.

MisterBander

@zonavar68 My response was directed towards Thevy29 who says he cannot drive because gas costs too much, so I suggested an EV, which would suit his situation perfectly. Your love of Gas cars is obvious and if you are using it for work then yea, maybe you can't afford the time to stop for a few hours to refuel, and since it's a work vehicle nobody cares if gas costs way too much.
People at home though.. get an EV. You can save $350+ per month. That is the money you need to get a loan to buy an EV. Don't be fooled by these backwater Gas loving comments.
Remember when camera film had to be developed? Now its all digital and the quality is way better.
Remember when people had dial phones at home? Now we have cell phones with more power than computers back in those days.
EV will replace Gas vehicles, they already are, and those Gas vehicles will not be missed after.

MisterBander

Maybe someone there should have planned better for EV. This isn't a new thing, EV has been around for a decade or more. If your EV grid is not in place already someone needs to ask why. Get it done. It is the future.

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zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@MisterBander We're 240 V 50 Hz mains AC here. Standard outlets are 10 amp so 2.4 kW maximum power though they can be replaced by 15 amp ones which have a larger earth pin giving 3.2 kW maximum power rating.

2.4 or 3.2 kWh is not a lot of charge return when a standard Tesla model Y battery module is rated for between 60 and 80 kWh depending on the configuration. Presuming the 'average EV user' has their vehicle parked up for 12+ hours overnight everynight is also not really a correct assumption.

You never get the full power delivered because of electrical losses (approx 10 percent), so if your home charger is able to draw the max legal AC current from a standard 10 amp or 15 amp outlet you'll get at best 2.2 or 2.9 kWh respectively, and that's assuming the charger is pushing that much power back into the battery module continuously with the car's BMS able to cope with the heat produced (the electrical losses I mentioned).

If the home charger overloads the outlet ratings that's a potential point of failure though not directly attributable to the vehicle itself.

It is possible to get high current industrial 32 amp 240 V AC single phase outlets but that usually would require an electrician to fit a dedicated RCD protected circuit from the main switch board, and if the property only has single phase power (such as mine) that might not be allowable as the single-phase is fused to 100 amps and when hot water is running at night having a 32 amp capable EV charger circuit going as well goes close to the same limit.

The big risk with EV's is they should not be charged inside any sort of enclosed structure (charging is the biggest risk to trigger thermal runaway fires), so not inside a stand-along garage/shed or inside a garage that's part of the main dwelling.

MisterBander

@zonavar68 Wow, and off into a different pile of BS. Cripes man, you are just a super negative EV kind of guy. I am wondering if perhaps you are an AI Bot that is going to continuously spew erroneous nonsense no matter what I say.
At the end of the day, whether your home runs on 110 or 240v, a Level 1 charger is possible and works for many many people. Later they can upgrade to Level 2, but it is not necessary right away.
As for the fire comments, from an AI query;

"Overall, EV fires are less common than those involving traditional vehicles, but they can be severe when they do occur."

So while it is true that EV's can catch fire, it is also true that Gas vehicles suffer the same fate. Gas powered vehicles also have a battery inside that can explode or catch fire, and do sometimes.

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@MisterBander An EV fire (like EV's themselves) is 'differently complex' to a non-EV fire. EV fires are less common only because there are less EV's. When (if ever) it reaches parity I suggest the stats will reflect that.

I'm not a basher of EV's at all - I love tech - but the push for EV's is much like the push of Covid jabs. Most people do not want them, at least currently. Esp here in Australia they're largely impractical.

A few people at my work have EV's, but there's nowhere to charge them at work.On a weekday during the daytime when the office staff are also there in addition to the operations staff there can be 150 + cars, and 5 to 10 might be EV's.

Midlifemale · 61-69, M

Fuel prices have increased since the Iran crisis, but all not that bad as our ecomony is good.
Gas at $4.00 gal...up 1.00, was as low as $2.50 a few months ago.
Diesel is at $5.00 gal

Maturebate · 70-79, M

You wouldn't be able to fill jerry cans here.in western Vic. They outlawed that more tha a week ago.

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@Maturebate I'm not aware of any limit (yet) on how much fuel per purchase a person is permitted to buy in a single transaction here in NSW. When you say VIC 'outlawed' using jerry cans, is that actual legislation with legal weight or just some verbal thing from a state gov minister there?

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