Gasoline hits €2 in Spain; EVs offer no escape
Diesel prices rose from €1.529 to €1.849 in a week, showing that electric vehicles are not immune to energy cost increases.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Gasoline hits €2 in Spain; EVs offer no escape
A liter of diesel cost €1.529 on Monday and €1.849 the trinc Tuesday. This is the data someone tracked daily at their local gas station as crude oil prices climbed. The discussion begins with an electric car driver boasting about avoiding the price hike: "I don't care because I drive a washing machine on wheels." The response was immediate: the energy powering that car also rises, and much of it is generated by burning gas or coal. The shield was made of cardboard.
The liter rising every day
The figures circulating in the conversation leave little room for imagination. Diesel went from €1.529 to €1.849 in just one week, with daily increases of one to six cents. Gasoline, meanwhile, surpassed the psychological barrier of €2 per liter. A self-employed worker (autónomo) driving 200 kilometers daily in a van consuming 12 liters per 100 km faces impossible math: 24 liters a day at €2 equals €56 daily just for fuel. Someone sums it up bluntly: "many will go bankrupt."
The increase is not an isolated phenomenon at the pump. Fertilizers used by farmers have also surged, and those selling potatoes at two euros per kilo say they cannot even refuel their vans at that price. The chain is long and affects everyone: transport, logistics, agriculture, industry. Everything moving by land, sea, or air relies on hydrocarbons, and this extra cost always ends up in the final consumer's pocket.
Why doesn't the electric car avoid the rise?
The argument from an EV owner is simple: if I don't visit gas stations, €2 gasoline doesn't affect me. The reasoning error is basic physics. The electricity charging the car does not fall from the sky, and a significant portion is generated by burning gas and coal. When demand shifts from domestic to massive—millions of cars plugged in simultaneously—the price per kilowatt-hour rises. It is already being felt.
Some argue the protection is an optical illusion. The lifecycle of an electric vehicle includes battery manufacturing, dismantling, and waste disposal, processes with brutal energy consumption paid for in oil. Battery toxicity, they claim, contaminates water sources that require costly purification. This analytical perspective cannot be dismissed with a joke, even if the joke is quicker.
Then there is the infrastructure issue. Most EV owners participating in the conversation have private garages and chargers, often subsidized up to 80% by regional authorities. Those living in apartments without dedicated parking or outlets lack this luxury. The electric car becomes what some call "pure status signaling," akin to buying an iPhone on easy installments.
The diesel generator as rebellion
The most radical response in the discussion comes from those deciding to disconnect from the grid and use a generator for the few days they lack power. The calculation is simple: paying fixed capacity charges for the privilege of exporting surplus to the network at low prices is a hidden tax on self-sufficiency. The generator, despite high diesel costs, represents a variable and controllable expense. It is not a national solution, but for a household, it sends a clear message: I refuse to play by your rigged rules.
The problem is that this logic, multiplied by millions of homes, breaks the system. Rationing fuel does not cause an economic downturn; it destroys the economy. A week or two of disruption can be absorbed; beyond that, workers cannot reach jobs, production chains snap, and supermarkets empty out because office staff handling deliveries cannot arrive either. The scenario is not Cuba, but it looks uncomfortably similar.
Subsidies that miss the pump
While prices rise, the Government approved a €9 million aid package for Lebanon to mitigate the effects of inflation. The irony writes itself: money leaves Spain and lands thousands of kilometers away, while the van driver stares at the pump doing calculations. Some urgently request an anti-Trump plan: lower rents, cap food and energy prices, free public transport, and regain control over strategic sectors. It sounds like an election platform, but it is a petition circulating in the conversation.
Meanwhile, the barrel of oil drops. The margins applied by oil companies do not. This is the trap nobody fully dismantles: perhaps crude oil prices cannot be controlled, but abusive margins sometimes applied certainly can. The lingering question is uncomfortable. If the barrel falls and the liter does not, who is keeping the difference?
With diesel at €1.849 and the barrel falling, the numbers do not add up anywhere. Electric cars do not escape the bill, diesel generators are a parlor rebellion, and aid lands on another continent. There will be trouble for everyone here, in forms you cannot imagine.
A liter of diesel cost €1.529 on Monday and €1.849 the trinc Tuesday. This is the data someone tracked daily at their local gas station as crude oil prices climbed. The discussion begins with an electric car driver boasting about avoiding the price hike: "I don't care because I drive a washing machine on wheels." The response was immediate: the energy powering that car also rises, and much of it is generated by burning gas or coal. The shield was made of cardboard.
The liter rising every day
The figures circulating in the conversation leave little room for imagination. Diesel went from €1.529 to €1.849 in just one week, with daily increases of one to six cents. Gasoline, meanwhile, surpassed the psychological barrier of €2 per liter. A self-employed worker (autónomo) driving 200 kilometers daily in a van consuming 12 liters per 100 km faces impossible math: 24 liters a day at €2 equals €56 daily just for fuel. Someone sums it up bluntly: "many will go bankrupt."
The increase is not an isolated phenomenon at the pump. Fertilizers used by farmers have also surged, and those selling potatoes at two euros per kilo say they cannot even refuel their vans at that price. The chain is long and affects everyone: transport, logistics, agriculture, industry. Everything moving by land, sea, or air relies on hydrocarbons, and this extra cost always ends up in the final consumer's pocket.
Why doesn't the electric car avoid the rise?
The argument from an EV owner is simple: if I don't visit gas stations, €2 gasoline doesn't affect me. The reasoning error is basic physics. The electricity charging the car does not fall from the sky, and a significant portion is generated by burning gas and coal. When demand shifts from domestic to massive—millions of cars plugged in simultaneously—the price per kilowatt-hour rises. It is already being felt.
Some argue the protection is an optical illusion. The lifecycle of an electric vehicle includes battery manufacturing, dismantling, and waste disposal, processes with brutal energy consumption paid for in oil. Battery toxicity, they claim, contaminates water sources that require costly purification. This analytical perspective cannot be dismissed with a joke, even if the joke is quicker.
Then there is the infrastructure issue. Most EV owners participating in the conversation have private garages and chargers, often subsidized up to 80% by regional authorities. Those living in apartments without dedicated parking or outlets lack this luxury. The electric car becomes what some call "pure status signaling," akin to buying an iPhone on easy installments.
The diesel generator as rebellion
The most radical response in the discussion comes from those deciding to disconnect from the grid and use a generator for the few days they lack power. The calculation is simple: paying fixed capacity charges for the privilege of exporting surplus to the network at low prices is a hidden tax on self-sufficiency. The generator, despite high diesel costs, represents a variable and controllable expense. It is not a national solution, but for a household, it sends a clear message: I refuse to play by your rigged rules.
The problem is that this logic, multiplied by millions of homes, breaks the system. Rationing fuel does not cause an economic downturn; it destroys the economy. A week or two of disruption can be absorbed; beyond that, workers cannot reach jobs, production chains snap, and supermarkets empty out because office staff handling deliveries cannot arrive either. The scenario is not Cuba, but it looks uncomfortably similar.
Subsidies that miss the pump
While prices rise, the Government approved a €9 million aid package for Lebanon to mitigate the effects of inflation. The irony writes itself: money leaves Spain and lands thousands of kilometers away, while the van driver stares at the pump doing calculations. Some urgently request an anti-Trump plan: lower rents, cap food and energy prices, free public transport, and regain control over strategic sectors. It sounds like an election platform, but it is a petition circulating in the conversation.
Meanwhile, the barrel of oil drops. The margins applied by oil companies do not. This is the trap nobody fully dismantles: perhaps crude oil prices cannot be controlled, but abusive margins sometimes applied certainly can. The lingering question is uncomfortable. If the barrel falls and the liter does not, who is keeping the difference?
With diesel at €1.849 and the barrel falling, the numbers do not add up anywhere. Electric cars do not escape the bill, diesel generators are a parlor rebellion, and aid lands on another continent. There will be trouble for everyone here, in forms you cannot imagine.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (178 replies).
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