A Lot Of Low-Hanging Fruit -- A Lot Of Fat -- A Huge Opportunity -- What A Great Country -- September 10, 2023

Locator: 45593ECON.

There is so much "fat" in this country -- amazing.

So much low-hanging fruit.

On our five-day cross country trip -- Dallas to Philadelphia to Washington (DC) / Baltimore / Ft Meade and back to Dallas we rented a Toyota 4Runner from Enterprise. I had requested an Altima but something was lost in translation and we were "given" the 4Runner.

The car averaged 23.1 mpg on that 3600-mile trip. 

In the big scheme of things, as I stated earlier, it did not matter. It was a great ride, and a great trip.

But to put that in perspective.

My 2012 Honda Civic (purchased in Williston, ND, November, 2011, and has 126,000 miles on the odometer) easily averages 44 miles per gallon. 

We generally filled the tank with, let's say 15 gallons of unleaded gasoline when the tank was down to about a quarter full. The tank holds 23 gallons according to Toyota.

The difference between 23.1 mpg (Toyota) and 44.1 mpg (my Honda Civic) is ... 21 gallons.

At 21.1 mpg, 21 gallons --> 443 miles.

At 44.1 mpg, 21 gallons --> 926 miles.

Wow. 

With the Honda Civic, at each fill-up, I could have gone an extra 485 miles. 

Literally, I would have cut the number of stops in half. And saved around $300.

And, yet, I saw eight "Toyota 4Runners" on the highway to every "Honda Civic." There is no indication that Americans are interested in EVs based on that observation: Americans seem to have little concern about the price of gasoline -- they talk about it a lot, but they manage. What are Americans concerned about when it comes to their automobiles on a cross-country trip?

• ******range;
• *****time to re-fuel / re-charge;
• *****ease of finding a re-fueling / re-charging station;
• **time to get to a pump / re-charging point when having arrived at a station;
• ******comfort / size of the automobile / pickup truck / SUV/ EV;
• ***versatility of the automobile / pickup truck / SUV / EV;
• ********up-front price for a new vehicle for cross-country trips.

This country and the oil sector are in great shape.

For investors, "oil" is now a utility and will be so for decades assuming the EV revolution succeeds.

If the EV revolution falters, the oil sector will surge for investors (and my heirs -- I doubt my investing life time will exceed another ten years).

The big question: which way is XOM betting --

• that the EV revolution succeeds;
• the EV revolution falters?

Screenshot of the MPG in my 2012 Honda Civic, taken yesterday, September 10, 2023, with 126,000 miles on the odometer.

I'll get a better photo with the odometer reading later, if I remember, and if I can catch the mpg at or greater than 44.1.