I Filled Up At the Wrong Pump
Travelling home late last night from a road trip I stopped for gas at an MFA Oil store in Columbia, MO.
It was very late and I was not very attentive I will admit. I looked at the pump on the island I was pulled up to and noticed that higher octane gas containing ethanol was priced the same as regular unleaded. That seemed to be a no-brainer.
However, when I was almost full I looked up and saw this sign for the first time and found out that they have an E-85 pump at a different island. Whoops. It’s 55 cents cheaper per gallon and I’m driving a flex fuel vehicle. Well, that was just par for the course on a day when my flight was an hour and a half late and I got to drive home for 2 hours through driving rain (we needed it here in Missouri though).
It’s nice to be seeing more E-85 pumps though. I’ve just got to be more observant!
3 Comments »
Will
The best price at the Break Time pumps was the diesel. The 20% price discount for the E85 only accounted for the loss in miles per gallon. Even though the diesel fuel was 3%higher, a European or Japanese diesel would have been able to obtain as much as 20 to 30% better mpg. I am looking forward to 2008 when many mid priced diesels should be available in all 50 states. Ediesel also works.
Randy Ingraham
Your inattention actually saved you money.
Look at the EPA’s mileage estimate figures and you’ll see it takes four gallons of E85 to go the same distance you could go with three gallons of gasoline. (EPA numbers are never completely accurate, but nevertheless, they remain a useful guide for relative comparison. For example, the 2006 EPA composite numbers (urban and rural) for a 2006 Chevy Avalanche: 16 mpg with gasoline — 12 mpg with E85.)
Using the prices on the sign where you stopped:
3 gallons x 2.799 = $8.40 for enough gasoline for an Avalanche to go 48 miles. (17.5 cents per mile.)
4 gallons x 2.249 = $9.00 for enough E85 for an Avalanche to go 48 miles. (18.7 cents per mile)
Had you bought the E85, you would have actually increased your fuel cost per mile. Not much of an increase per mile, but if you drive 12,000 miles/year, that would be a difference of $168 more to use E85.
Chuck
There’s a couple of things you need to consider when looking at this.
1. Actual mileage varies with vehicles. I’ve spoken with flex fuel vehicle owners who don’t see anywhere near that big a difference in mileage when using E85.
2. Most people I’ve spoken with would pay extra to make sure their money is staying here in America and not going to a foreign terrorist-supporting country.
3. As far as diesel goes, the U-S hasn’t developed cars that run on diesel. It might be nice if it were different but it’s not reality. People here drive cars that run on gas. That’s not going to change anytime soon.
Right now I think we’ve got people trying to do what they can “today” to help us get off our dependence on “foreign” oil. There’s no one silver bullet solution. I support the folks who are working on our domestic alternative fuel solutions. One way I can do that is to promote what they’re doing and put my money where my mouth is at the pump!
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