Delaware drivers may want to rethink their next gas pump purchase. According to new AAA research, American drivers wasted more than $2.1 billion in the last year by using premium-grade gasoline in vehicles designed to run on regular fuel.
In the last 12 months, 16.5 million U.S. drivers unnecessarily used premium fuel at least once despite the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation. AAA conducted a comprehensive fuel evaluation to determine what, if any, benefit the practice offers to consumers.
After using industry-standard test protocols designed to evaluate vehicle performance, fuel economy and emissions, AAA found no benefit to using premium gasoline in a vehicle that only requires regular-grade fuel.
“Drivers see the ‘premium’ name at the pump and may assume the fuel is better for their vehicle,” said Ken Grant, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “AAA cautions drivers that premium gasoline is higher octane, not higher quality, and urges drivers to follow the owner’s manual recommendations for their vehicle’s fuel.”
To understand the magnitude of the issue, AAA surveyed U.S. drivers to understand what type of fuel their vehicles require and the frequency at which they upgrade to premium fuel.
Results reveal:
- Seventy percent of U.S. drivers currently own a vehicle that requires regular gasoline, while only 16 percent drive vehicles that require premium fuel. The remaining 14 percent own a vehicle that requires mid-grade gasoline (10 percent) or uses an alternative energy source (4 percent).
- In the last 12 months, 16.5 million U.S. drivers unnecessarily used premium-grade gasoline in their vehicle at least once. On average, those that upgraded to premium gasoline did so at least once per month.
- In the last 12 months, U.S. drivers unnecessarily used premium gasoline in their vehicle more than 270 million times.
In partnership with the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center, AAA tested 87-octane (regular) and 93-octane (premium) gasoline in vehicles equipped with a V-8, V-6 or I4 engine designed to operate on regular-grade fuel. To evaluate the effects of using a higher-octane fuel when it’s not required by the manufacturer, each vehicle was tested on a dynamometer, which is essentially a treadmill for cars that is designed to measure horsepower, fuel economy and tailpipe emissions when using both fuel types and variety of driving conditions. The testing found no significant increases in any tested category, indicating the practice of using premium gasoline when it’s not required for the vehicle offers no advantage.
“Premium gasoline is specifically formulated to be compatible with specific types of engine designs and most vehicles cannot take advantage of the higher octane rating,” said Megan McKernan, manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Automotive Research Center.
A number of car models do require premium fuel, but are typically luxury or high-performance vehicles. The percentage of vehicles that require premium has risen somewhat, due to the use of turbochargers that allow more horsepower from smaller and more fuel-efficient engines.
Sales of premium fuel do tend to rise when gas prices are low and drop when the price at the pump spikes,
