Gas, airfares, car insurance: How transportation costs are impacting high inflation
A gas station in Arlington, Virginia.
Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
New government data for January shows high inflation has continued into the new year.
That has some economists worried high prices may prove to be sticky, even as the Federal Reserve works to slow inflation by raising interest rates.
Yet as some prices climbed, others subsided, according to the January consumer price index data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. The CPI measures changes in consumer prices by measuring a basket of goods and services over time.
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Transportation costs were one area where prices were in flux.
Notably, a jump in gasoline prices was one of the contributors to an overall 0.5% increase in the CPI for the month. Gasoline rose 2.4% in January, while it fell 7% the previous month.
Yet looking back at the past 12 months, gasoline – at 1.5% – did not make the list of top costs. (The benchmark inflation for all items came it at 6.4%.)
Meanwhile, fuel oil dipped 1.2% in January but was up 27.7% for the past 12 months.
While high gas prices made headlines in 2022, prompting gas tax holidays in some states, those prices have subsided from last year’s highs.
The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.42, AAA reported on Thursday, up a penny from the previous week. The highest recorded average price was $5.02 as of June.
Gas prices “did rise in January and that was mostly due to the weather,” said Andrew Gross, spokesperson at AAA. Winter storms affected refineries on the Gulf Coast and in California. Separately, a weather-unrelated fire at a Colorado refinery is also causing problems.
Oil prices also influence about 60% of what consumers pay at the pump, according to Gross.
January’s jump in gas prices is one example of how the slowing inflation — or disinflation — will not necessarily happen in a “straight line,” according to Brett House, professor of practice in economics at Columbia Business School.
“You have the potential for exogenous shocks or economic shocks that are coming out of the blue that don’t have an economic underpinning to them … knocking prices for substantial changes in any given month,” House said.
Other transportation costs are in flux
New vehicles are up 5.8% over the past 12 months ending Jan. 30, and up 0.2% for the month.
However, used cars and trucks, a category that surged during record high inflation, are now down 11.6% for the past 12 months and down 1.9% for January.
Other transportation categories that were up over the last 12 months include airfares, which climbed 25.6%; motor vehicle repairs, which rose 23.1%; public transportation including airfares, up 17.1%; and motor vehicle insurance, up 14.7%.
Car insurance has been increasing as insurance companies reprice policies to reflect higher prices for parts, noted Nikolai Roussanov, a finance professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Other trends, like rising vehicle costs, higher accident rates during the pandemic and poorer returns on premiums invested in the market by insurance companies, may also be factors, according to Peter C. Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research.
However, there were some signs higher prices in certain categories may be subsiding, based on data for the month of January. Airfares were down 2.1% for the month, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Yet lodging away from home, including hotels and motels, was up 1.5%.
Persistent high inflation in services may continue to push up certain travel costs, according to House.
Strong demand for travel now that Covid-19 restrictions have lifted has also affected prices, House noted.
“People are not spending or emphasizing as much spending on goods as we’ve seen previously,” House said. “People are investing in experiences, getting out, going to cultural things, travel.”
BMW Motorrad’s futuristic electric scooter just got its first real refresh since beginning production in 2021. The BMW CE 04, already one of the most capable and stylish electric maxi-scooters on the market, now gets a set of upgraded trim options, new aesthetic touches, and a more robust list of features that aim to make this urban commuter even more appealing to riders looking for serious electric performance on two wheels.
The BMW CE 04 has always stood out for its sci-fi styling and high-performance drivetrain. It’s built on a mid-mounted liquid-cooled motor that puts out 31 kW (42 hp) and 62 Nm of torque. That’s enough to rocket the scooter from 0 to 50 km/h (31 mph) in just 2.6 seconds – quite fast for anything with a step-through frame.
The top speed is electronically limited to 120 km/h (75 mph), making it perfectly capable for city riding and fast enough to hold its own on highway stretches. Range is rated at 130 km (81 miles) on the WMTC cycle, thanks to the 8.9 kWh battery pack tucked low in the frame.
But while the core performance hasn’t changed, BMW’s 2025 update focuses on refining the package and giving riders more options to tailor the scooter to their taste. The new CE 04 is available in three trims: Basic, Avantgarde, and Exclusive.
The Basic trim keeps things clean and classic with a Lightwhite paint scheme and a clear windshield. It’s subtle, sleek, and very much in line with the CE 04’s clean-lined aesthetic. The Avantgarde model adds a splash of color with a Gravity Blue main body and bright São Paulo Yellow accents, along with a dark windshield and a laser-engraved rim. The top-shelf Exclusive trim is where things get fancy, with a premium Spacesilver metallic paint job, upgraded wind protection, heated grips, a luxury embroidered seat, and its own unique engraved rim treatment.
There are also a few new tech upgrades baked into the options list. Riders can now spec a 6.9 kW quick charger that reduces the 0–80% charge time to just 45 minutes (down from nearly 4 hours with the standard 2.3 kW onboard charger). Tire pressure monitoring, a center stand, and BMW’s “Headlight Pro” adaptive lighting system are also available as add-ons, along with an emergency eCall system and Dynamic Traction Control.
BMW has kept the core riding components in place: a steel-tube chassis, 15-inch wheels, Bosch ABS (with optional ABS Pro), and the impressive 10.25” TFT display with integrated navigation and smartphone connectivity. The under-seat storage still swallows a full-face helmet, and the long, low frame design means the scooter looks like something out of Blade Runner but rides like a luxury commuter.
With these updates, BMW seems to be further cementing the CE 04’s role at the high end of the electric scooter market. It’s not cheap, starting around €12,000 in Europe and around US $12,500 in the US, with prices going up from there depending on configuration. However, the maxi-scooter delivers real motorcycle-grade performance in a package that’s easier to live with for daily riders.
Electrek’s Take
I believe that the CE 04’s biggest strength has always been that it’s not trying to be a toy or a gimmick. It’s a real vehicle. Sure, it’s futuristic and funky looking, but it delivers on its promises. And in a market that’s still surprisingly sparse when it comes to premium electric scooters, BMW has had the lane mostly to itself. That may not last forever, though. LiveWire, Harley-Davidson’s electric spin-off brand, has teased plans for a maxi-scooter-style urban electric vehicle in the coming years, but as of now, it remains something of an undefined future plan.
Meanwhile, BMW is delivering not just a concept bike but a mature, well-equipped, and ready-to-ride electric scooter that keeps improving. For riders who want something faster and more capable than a Class 3 e-bike but aren’t ready to jump to a full-size electric motorcycle, the CE 04 hits a sweet spot. It delivers the performance and capability of a commuter e-motorcycle, yet with the approachability of a scooter. And with these new trims and upgrades, it’s doing it with even more style.
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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