Gas prices are reaching an all-time high all over the country, and Santa Clarita is no exception.
On Wednesday, the Chevron station on the 23000 block of Soledad Canyon Road in Saugus was selling regular gasoline for $6 a gallon and premium gasoline for $6.30. Costco in the 18600 block of Via Princessa in Canyon Country had regular for $5.09 and premium for $5.39. It was the same at Sam’s Club in the 26400 block of Carl Boyer Drive in Santa Clarita. But most stations in the area are selling regular gas for around $5.50 and $5.70, and motorists at the pumps are upset, but still filling up.
“How about we reopen the Keystone Pipeline and look for America to start producing more oil for a while until things calm down globally and we stabilize gas prices?” said Richard Irby, a Sylmar resident getting gas at Costco Wednesday in Canyon Country. Irby was fueling up his 2015 Kia Optima and added that waiting in the long line for gas seemed counterproductive, but something he had to do, nonetheless.
A few pumps over, Valencia resident Nathan Meeks, filling his raised 2002 Dodge RAM 1500, said, “It’s a good time to get a Tesla.”
Newhall resident Sergio Escamilla drives a Tesla — an all-electric 2021 Model Y Long Range, which he bought about a year ago because, he said, it seemed like a good investment at the time.
“In retrospect, I’m glad I got it,” Escamilla said. “I was looking at a vehicle within a particular price range — looking for more of a luxury vehicle like the BMW, Mercedes or Tesla. I was doing the math with gas and maintenance, and the Tesla was only an extra $100 or $150 a month.”
In doing the math now, Escamilla guessed he’d be paying about $180 a month for gas had he gone with one of the other car options, over 30 percent more than what he was paying to fill the hybrid vehicle he drove before the Tesla.
“So, that just kind of justified my decision to get the Tesla.”
The young father added that he bought the electric car around the same time his wife bought a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek, which was to be the family car. Since gas prices have been going up, the Tesla, he said, has now become the family car, the Subaru getting much less drive time these days.
However, for those who still have to get gas, a good way to find the lowest prices is to use the Google Maps app on your smartphone or computer. Type “gas” into the search field, and, bingo, the surrounding stations will come up with their gas prices listed.
