Is the fuel really a concern there? I mean, fuel is such a tiny small part of the expenses overall in Europe. Almost invisibly small. France consumes 162K barrels of gasoline a day, or 9.4 billion liters at average price of 1.57 EUR. That's 1.2% of the value of household consumption, and by far not all of it is gasoline consumption by consumers. So we are speaking of <1% of household expenses. How is this squeeze?

This is what I'm trying to work out.

Here in the UK the AA come out every time theres a budget, asking for lower fuel duty for "hard pressed motorists".

The reality is fuel isn't that expensive, as evidenced by the fact that large 4x4s are getting increasingly popular, and people are happy to drive the half mile to the local shop to buy a pint of milk.

Edit: Plus EVs are a thing now, if fuel prices really were that bad.

According to this link[1], you are off by a factor of 10. It lists France at 1692K barrels per day. I wanted to double check the figures because I know how much it costs to operate a car and it's not 1.2% of household.

[1] - https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/France/oil_consumption/

I observed two occasions where house prices in outlying areas of Southern California declined more than any decline at the same time in close-in houses. The first time was the early Nineties. These outlying areas also didn't have decent transportation into the urban areas, especially the first time around. I think Metrolink has expanded in the areas I am commenting on, "Inland Empire" areas like Victorville and Temecula.