Gas prices in Metro are up 13 percent since Tuesday, when gas was $1.95 a liter. The price hit $2.20 a liter in many parts of Metro Vancouver on Saturday.
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Gas prices in Metro Vancouver are expected to continue rising through at least Sunday, maybe even $2.34 per litre, according to price monitoring website gasoline wizard.
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Gas prices in Metro are up 13 percent since Tuesday, when gas was $1.95 a liter. The price hit $2.20 a liter in many parts of Metro Vancouver on Saturday, the most expensive increase since July, according to Kalibrate, a consulting firm that tracks fuel prices.
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Oil analyst Dan McTeague of Canadians for Affordable Energy told Global News this week that problems in Washington state and elsewhere in the US were contributing to the increase.
“The extraordinarily tight supply on the US West Coast got worse about a week ago that the Phillips 66 Ferndale Washington refinery went down for maintenance,” McTeague said.
“This is something that many refiners in the US have refrained from doing, particularly given the strong demand this summer.”
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As fuel prices rise, drivers are beginning to change their habits, said several experts who spoke to Postmedia.
BCAAs Evo car sharing The program sees “an increase in usage when gas prices are high,” Sarah Holland, communications manager for Evo, said by email.
“Our enrollments have increased, the number of trips people take has increased, and the length of trips has increased,” Holland said.
She said some Evo users have even sold their vehicles and are using Evos at least partially due to high gas prices.
On the car sales website Canadian Unitsinterest in articles about electric and hybrid vehicles increased along with gasoline prices, said Chris Reynolds, vice president of marketing.
“People are seeing that there are great options to fit their lifestyle for plug-in hybrids and even electric vehicles,” Reynolds said. “They’re making the move.”
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For those not ready or unable to make the switch, Reynolds offered a number of simple tips and techniques to reduce fuel costs, starting with how often you fill up.
“If you have half a tank and you see that the price is low, go fill it up. Don’t wait,” she said. “Fill no matter how full her tank is.
“If we fill our car when it’s empty, we can’t choose the price.”
Gas prices typically start to rise on Thursdays, as the weekend approaches, according to Canada Drives.
How you drive is just as important, if not more so, than when you fill up the tank, Reynold said, noting that rapid acceleration and hard braking use a lot of gas.
“Don’t drive aggressively,” he said, “drive smoothly.”
“One way to gauge how smooth your ride is is by paying attention to your RPM,” Reynold said. “Keeping it around 3,000 RPM, you’re still going at a good pace and your car is shifting effectively.”
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Those people who aggressively get out of line at a green light?
“They are wasting gasoline,” he said.
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Reynold also suggested downloading an app like Gas Buddy, which provides localised prices for gas stations in a user-determined area. Prices are updated by people using the app, which has a large user-base, so the prices are usually the most up-to-date.
“You can literally get a notification on your Gas Buddy app” about price changes, Reynold said.
Other apps, including Waze, the navigation platform, and the BCAA mobile app also include localised gas prices. Since they have fewer users, prices might not be as current, Reynold said.
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Reynolds also suggested drivers sign up for rewards programs that offer savings on fuel purchases.
“It’s another card for the wallet, but it could save you tens of dollars a year,” he said.
He suggested signing up for two or more programs “that are close to your area, for convenience.”
That way, drivers will avoid finding themselves in a situation where they have to drive extra miles just to save a few cents on gas, he said.
Other tips Reynold suggested include keeping your car’s tires properly inflated and making sure you regularly change your oil and air filters, all of which will ensure that your vehicle makes the most effective use of the fuel in its tank.
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