#motoring-taxes

#motoring-taxes

When lives are assigned a higher dollar value, stricter pollution standards tend to clear the 'economic efficiency' sniff test, resulting in cleaner air. But that improved air quality comes at the expense of America's industrial industries, which have to invest in pricey systems to reduce the amount of these pollutants they spew down to acceptable levels.

On average, fuel prices are up almost a dollar per gallon, or 25 percent, according to AAA. For a nation as addicted to the automotive as we are, that's bad news. Except, of course, for electric vehicles.

The French government has temporarily authorised the sale of diesel fuel with lower cold-weather resistance to prevent shortages amid rising prices at the pump.

Jet fuel tends to be an airline's biggest expense. An analysis by the International Air Transport Association showed that, for the week ending March 27, the weekly average price of jet fuel has skyrocketed 116.8 per cent compared to the previous year's average.

According to a survey of over 13,000 members conducted by the AA, an estimated 21.7 million journeys are expected across the UK on Thursday, making this one of the busiest Easters in recent years.

Jim Ratcliffe stated that excessive taxation risks damaging domestic industry, emphasizing the need for a pragmatic approach to energy policy that balances affordability with environmental goals.

Oversized models, such as large SUVs, make it harder for drivers to see people walking and cycling nearby. SUVs are 14 per cent more likely to kill people walking and cycling than other passenger cars, and 77 per cent more likely to kill children up to the age of 18 in England.

Honda has slashed the price of the 2026 Prologue by $7,500 across the board, essentially replacing the lost tax incentive and making the crossover a much better deal among its peers.

In 2025, German car companies earned nearly 44% less than in 2024, with earnings before interest and taxes dropping to just 24.9 billion, the lowest since 2020.

At Stellantis headquarters, driving a company car gets you the best parking spots - but driving anything else can get you the boot. When the Jeep parent company ordered employees back to the office five days a week at its Auburn Hills, Michigan campus, workers discovered that parking a Tesla or Hyundai in a spot reserved for Stellantis vehicles could earn them a ticket from security.

"Lowering speeds does reduce fuel consumption, especially at highway speeds, because aerodynamic drag increases rapidly as speed rises. A reduction of around 10 km/h can realistically lead to fuel savings in the order of 5-10 per cent, depending on the vehicle and driving conditions."

Because so many American cities are so heavily car-dependent, most U.S. residents have no choice but to pony up the cash and drive anyway. Indeed, even when gas prices climbed above $5 a gallon in 2022, driving did not plummet; a Time magazine analysis at the time found that 'the only time that fuel consumption really took a hit in the last 23 years was during the pandemic.'