I would like to find out a trend of gasoline prices for the next decade, as I want to convince my dad to buy me a tesla roadster (im 17 so yes im allowed to live with my parents) for say a graduation present. No there isnt any way this is possible but with the right amount of skewed data i might be able to pull it off. I know it takes a negligible amount of cash to charge one up but saved fuel costs would help bring the 'real' price of this car down. I just need a source from somewhere online (been pretty hard to find so far) that shows gas prices for the future 10 years. Also if the source doesnt adjust for inflation thats better, I want to really skew this as much as I can...
One other thing maintenance costs for a normal car seem to be around $3500 a year and roadsters' maintenance is about $2500...at least what ive found, not sure about it though.

Anyways if anyone knows/finds a source for (preferably nominal, non inflation adjusted) gasoline price predictions for the next 10 years thatd be great

Your dad is out of his mind if he buys a 17 year old a 100,000 dollar vehicle. I had my parents old van until I worked and saved enough to buy myself a truck.

yeah but if i get a free ride to college or something like that, it might be only slightly insane

a 17 year old on public roads in a car that can do 0-60 mph in 4 seconds? just tell him how much money he'll make when the insurance pays out the death benefit.

you cant predict fuel prices. its a commodity thats traded on the stock market. they can make the price whatever they want it to be.

http://money.cnn.com/.../index.htm?&hpt=hp_c2

hmmm... wonder what that means...

bah, you forgot to take into account the insurance costs. hmmm, maybe your dad should look to see if it's too expensive for you to drive your own car.

fluff...might buy used, and probably would have anyways. or go for model s which would be easy to prove to be worth it. also i would probably be 18 or 19 when i actually get a car, though that might not make much of a difference with how much people will think im going to crash and die...oh well

won't affect what the insurance companies think. i survived the training period though, but i might've just been lucky. i accidently spun 2 cars without any damages, almost powerslided into a Houston ditch. well, i did bend a rod trying to deliver pizza during a tropical storm. go with the model s. i'm trying to figure out why they don't have solar cells to recharge the batteries.

I think it has to do with the look of a car, solar panels dont exactly look great. Plus they are hella expensive while charging up the car through a wall outlet costs about $3 per full charge. Electricity prices would have to soar for that to be a viable option i think. Hmm ill try to remember not to drive in a tropical storm....

On the insurance note, I think Ill have USAA insurance and thats supposed to be cheaper than normal insurance companies but im not exactly certain what they cover.

a standard wall outlet? my math is probably a bit off, but based on my electric bill stating that i pay $0.1037 per kilowatt, it would cost me $6.10 for a full charge. yes, no, maybe? i've seen it stated that it would take 30 hours for full charge using a 110 volt/15 amp wall outlet.

"Custom microprocessor-controlled lithium-ion battery with 6,831 individual cells. 3.5 hour charge time from empty to full using the Tesla High Power Wall Connector at 240 Volts and 70 Amps."

240v * 70a = 16800w / 1000 = 16.8kw * 3.5 hours * $0.1037 = $6.09756

110v * 15a = 1650w / 1000 = 1.65kw * 30hours * $0.1037 = $5.13315

Yeah, a standard wall outlet could charge it and supposedly it only takes 10 hours? Hmm the high power thing is another $2000 but I can pay for that if I got the car. And the math looks all good, Im not sure how much electricity costs where Id be (I dont know where Im going to be) but that seems accurate. Even so its still pretty cheap to charge it up completely. According to the Tesla website and how itll take 3.5 hours to charge it at 16.8 kW, it should take 35.5 hours at 1.65 kW...which would then correct the difference in prices, which should be the same if youre charging the same battery. Youre probably right though, I didnt see real calculations for the $3/charge but all that looks good. And still cheap too

Instead of trying to get the $100k car, why don't you use that position as a negotiating starting point. If he's smart he'll go through many of the arguments above. 'Understand' his logic and negotiate for decent $25k car and then ask him to drop the other $75k into a 401k for you. You rationalize it by explaining he saves money doing this and you can use this as a down payment on a house without paying a penalty. This is all presuming you live in the US which I don't think you do given you want a Tessla.

Either way, you would be better suited taking a car at 1/5-1/4 of the value and leaving the rest in modest investments and/or as a down payment on a home than you would be buying a car with sky-high insurance premiums, higher upkeep costs, ...and if you can cope with all of that then you really shouldn't be worried about the price of gas.

If we assume cost of powering the Tesla is negligible (or built into this gas price) and that gas costs $10/gallon for 25 mpg, that would justify getting the Tesla if you were to put 187,500 miles on your vehicle.

Ultimately, can not make a plausible argument that it is cost effective to get the Tesla.

And trumper, FDF lives in Singapore.

In that case don't they have an extensive subway system, Smart or something like that? Just invest the 100k and in 10 years take it out to enjoy.

Buy a bicycle! Fuel economy FTW!

Geez, Your father is out of his mind if he's going to let you talk him into buying a new car like that, or better yet, just a new car at all.

If you're 17 and have just gotten your license, the best car you should be hoping for is a 500 dollar runner from the junk yard.

Get real, unless you're someone who is extremely wealthy, you should just make it on what the average kid makes it on. Some old beater until you can get motivated and ambitious enough to afford to buy something decent.

Cerberus of the MI

horses! the way of the future !

pffftt...when I got my license, my first car was a hand-me-down from my sister...an old pontiac sunbird. 4 cylinders, 5 speed automatic.

I floored the accelerator one day going down the interstate, and ended up having to replace the transmission the next day.

pfffffft. my first unicycle was a hand-me-up from my sister... a 24" Schwinn. rode good, never broke down. your sister sucks.

Teslas are over rated: http://www.streetfire.net/...tesla-roadster_206233.htm

Ask for an Ariel Atom instead...If you're gonna dream insane, irresponsible, ridiculous dreams, you might as well shoot straight to the top.