Thanksgiving table discussion. I thought I understood high ethanol primo vs. regular, but after a holiday discussion with family/friends....??? The original assertion was regular gasoline and primo cost the maker exactly the same to produce....and THEN WE DRIFTED TO NO ETHANOL PRIMO. Anyone REALLY KNOW?
The specifics depend the petroleum feedstock and the refinery. The octanes could cost the same to make, but the price isn't just based on that cost. The compounds that increase the octane of premium gas have a higher value as they are in demand for other uses. Then density differences can mean an octane could yield more volume produced than another. You typically end up with 3 to 4 more gallons of finished product from a 44gal drum of crude.
And your mpg will go up, if you can get pure, alcohol free gasoline. Newer car sensors will compensate lean out the mixture - whereas alcohol tainted gas requires more to get to the same place. Old carbureted cars, not so much - unless you crawl under the hood to make the adjustment.
Perhaps...but not 10-15% more. Locally petrol is $2.199 for RUL. There are outlets that SAY they they have E0 for around $0.30 more - going back to the "if you can get it" thing. Simple math informs me that $0.30 is more than 10% of $2.199, and common sense informs me that if cars were 13% more efficient burning non-high fructose corn fuel then it would 'perhaps' be little more widely available. Maybe even a LOT more. Buy E0 if you think you need to - but KNOW THE FACTS.
I never stated that the math would pencil out. The question was, "Primo Gas: Can you 'explain it?." I can't get E0 here, because the ethanol mixture is mandated by CARB to reduce smog formation in certain parts of the states. The US Ag department promotes planting of corn through subsidies and needs something to do with the excess inventory. So it's mashed-in to produce ethanol. Ethanol could be sourced cheaper from South America, but we have tariffs in place to protect our industries. Both sugar and ethanol. The process is much easier and cheaper, if we used sugar, rather than corn.
The table discussion was in a "logging"town, though it has been some decades since any of the family have been so employed. Regular 10 percent ethanol 87 octane averages $3.25 USD between the three stations. Only one station sells no-ethanol 92 octane at $4.97 USD. Lots of small engines, lots of folks using no ethanol. The 10 percent ethanol 92 octane fetches about $3.37 USD. All prices rounded DOWN from the 9/10ths.
That's certainly more well thought out than the food insecurity argument that I'm always hearing about. Personally I do not like subsidizing ag products (ESPECIALLY HFCS!!!!) in a nation where most of the chronic health problems are a result of the abundance of ultra cheap, government subsidized sugary (corny) food. Math is an inconvenient part of 'the explanation' if you're mentioning fuel economy. ALSO - Alky is also a pretty efficient cleansing agent, and I recall no recent wars over the availability of corn.
Wouldn't rounding up be better? Even better, if a few more retail outlets would use round-number pricing, say $1, as opposed to 99 cents. Apple and Ikea are a couple that come to mind, think they do. And gas stations, maybe one of the chains could start a trend, charge say $2.50, instead of $2.49 and 9/10ths...
After I posted the prices, realized I had neglected the 9/10ths. Then I thought no one says 9/10ths. Gas is selling for $3.50 9/10. Wife asks how much I paid. I say $3.50. Never 3.51 or 3.50 9/10th.
At that price difference, the little turbo in the Sonic would be getting premium E10. Among the non-alcohol octane boosters are compounds like toluene and xylene. On their own, they can be sold for more than the compounds making up the base octane. Without the booze, the E0 premium needs to use even more of the more expensive compounds. Then there is classic supply and demand. Most cars in the US use regular gas, so that is going to be most of what the refinery makes. A lower amount of premium will be made; smaller supply. Even less of the E0 is made, with one station selling it, plus a public belief it is needed for more applications than it is, will all contribute to the price getting higher. More likely to do better with a Donny's Discount Gas that prices to the $0.008. JC Penny tried the whole dollar pricing years ago(they still around?). Didn't help out. Turns a remarkable portion of the population don't see the numbers to the right of the decimal, and $9.99 is a better deal than $10 to them than it actually is.
Nobody's left here who doesn't think I'm a geek, so I'll just fess up: I'll say 3.51, every time. That does sometimes get me a follow-up question like "didn't that say 3.50?", and if that happens, I just say it was Mrs. Silver in 6th grade who wanted me never to forget how to round correctly, and the gas stations who want me always to forget, and I've always figured Mrs. Silver had the better intentions. That usually gets me an eye-roll, but not always, and I think there might be a couple more humans, maybe three, who now say 3.51 themselves. Not a large number, but also doesn't cost me very much effort, so the return-on-effort is good enough for me.
