The perfect opportunity for people to get rid of their cars and buy scooters and motorcycles and get those cool little diesels from Europe over here. 40-80+ MPG sure beats out 15-35.
I'd say it's going to go up between $4-5 for a total average for all States, but toward the end of the next ten year period. Here right now, it's already over $4, or was last time I checked. But it bounces between low $3 in the cooler months and jumps up to close to or slightly over $4 in the summer, and it's been doing that consistently for the last 4 or so years.
When prices jumped to over $2 a gallon, I was surprised people were still buying so many trucks and SUVs. Then at $4 a gallon here in about 2007, and people were still buying them up. Even now, it seems that rising gas prices aren't stopping many people for buying. Last report I read, sales of trucks and SUVs this year are up.
At $4/gallon a vehicle getting 18 MPG is paying about $0.22 a mile. That's about 4.5 miles to a dollar. If you bump that up to 20 MPG, it's $0.16/mile. 30 MPG at about $0.13, or a little over 7.6 miles to a dollar. Up to 40 MPG, it's $0.10, or a full 10 miles to a dollar. Unless you live really close to where you work or take the kids to school or wherever, or do your shopping, or rarely have to drive, that $0.10-20/mile difference can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars a year extra in gas.
If the push for hydrogen and electric cars catches hold, it'll be interesting in a decade or to to see how much higher electricity costs are going to be (and how they're going to try to build the power plants required if Japan's nuclear accidents put nuclear power on the back burner again). I'd rather pay $4-5/gallon than rely on the level of technology batteries are at right now.