Fuel Prices

I am in Texas.

Now further south, towards the end of my 1000 mile leg from St Louis to Austin, via parts of the old Route 66.

I am at a Chevron gas station, contemplating the secrets of the universe.

Well, thinking about the cost of gas.

Eh... ‘thinking’ is a bit ambitious for what are ill-formed and ill-tempered things going on in my head.

Now you might think: ah yes, the Strait of Hormuz is especially strait right now and this has various geo-politico-economic effects.

Doubtless that is true, but those would indeed be thoughts.

No: I am looking at the pricing structure at this Chevron which is, I supposed before drawing up at the pump, a reputable sort of place.

First things first. Fuel in the USA and fuel in the UK are not readily comparable.

In the USA it is priced in gallons, whereas in the UK it is (since the 1980s) priced in litres. It used to be gallons, but this is not useful knowledge in the USA, because a UK (imperial) gallon is a fifth larger than a US (customary) gallon.

Fuel in Birmingham at the moment is just over £1.50 per litre, which is roughly $7.60 per US gallon. Fuel is taxed quite steeply in Europe.

But it’s not just tax.

A litre of UK unleaded petrol will have an octane rating of 95 (or 97/98 for premium fuels) whereas US unleaded fuel typically has an octane rating of between 87 and 91. Are these the same rating? Naturally they are not. Europe uses a Research Octane Number (RON) whereas the US uses an average of RON and Motor Octane Number (MON, or sometimes MOR for rating). This means that the 95 rating for UK fuel is about 89 for US fuel. So if you are a UK driver and you want to put equivalent fuel into your tank it should be rated 89 at the pump in the USA.

But US pumps will offer you a choice of two or three octane ratings, and sometimes more. It’s very common to see 87, 89, and 91 offered, with 91 being for performance cars. I have seen 85 rated fuel in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. (Apparently some vehicles do well on 85 rated fuel at higher altitudes.)

So: here I am in front of the pump. I am not confused about different tax regimes, volume scales, or octane ratings. I am confused about the utter nonsense in front of me.

87 rated gas is $4.02.

88 rated gas is $4.82.

91 rated gas is $5.02.

I know. You tell me.

I am driving a silver convertible Ford Mustang.

This is because I had a very pleasant conversation with Nathan at the airport car rental facility. And because my friend David Cunningham explained to me how US car rentals work. They work like this: persuade the company that you will rent often (which in my case is true). They will then say: rent a medium size vehicle and then take your pick from a range of available vehicles when you collect. This is wholly unlike renting in the UK. Do I love it? Yes I do.

I have tweaked this a bit. I find a Nathan. I pass the time of day. I ask what car he would choose if he were choosing something sporty. Nathan then furrows his brow because there are not really any sporty options on the lot, a fact that I clocked before approaching him. Otherwise I would be in that sporty car already. What would you like, Nathan asks. Maybe a BMW? No, I say, for there is strong theological support for the view that BMWs are the work of Satan. I would like a Mercedes of course. What about a black convertible Ford Mustang, Nathan inquires. That would be ideal. And so, after 15 mins, a black convertible Ford Mustang is driven up to precisely where I am standing while the other renters look on slightly puzzled. I find this puzzlement unusually gratifying.

You may have noticed that I drove a black Mustang off the lot, but I am now driving a silver Mustang. Slow tire leak. Replacement car at St Louis.

Side quest: one of my scriptural reasoning companions had a ride in the black Mustang at the first hub in North Carolina. And will be at the hub in Texas. So I imagine a conversation like this.

Hey! Your Mustang is silver!

Yes, it’s a silver Mustang.

But it was black!

Huh?

Your Mustang was black.

I am pretty sure this is a silver Mustang.

Yes but it wasn’t silver.

You are telling me that somehow it has changed color while I drove it from St Louis to Austin?

etc.

But imagined gaslighting is probably healthier than actual gaslighting.

Anyway, a Ford Mustang has quite a fancy engine, and there is a plaintive sign on the fuel flap begging drivers not to put in anything less than 87 rated fuel.

The way I drive it, it gets 34 miles to the gallon (which is 10 mpg more than the previous renter - the instruments tell all).

Do I drive it at 60 mph on the inside lane? Obvsly not.

I set cruise control for a sensible speed on the open road. And then, when I am approaching the vehicle in front which is going 0.5 mph slower than I am, do I pull out, and sit in their blind spot for 30 seconds while I inch past them?

I notice many drivers who do exactly this. And I notice many wrecks. I would be easily persuaded that I am noticing one phenomenon, not two.

Do I camp in someone’s blind spot? I do not.

I signal, pull out, put my foot authoritatively on the gas pedal, listen to the mustang music, overtake at *cough* mph, signal, pull in, and return to my previous sensible cruising speed. The overtaken car is now an, er, very safe stopping distance behind me. It is a satisfyingly brief manoeuvre.

A car like this really needs at least 89 rated fuel, and I can imagine someone who loved their Mustang putting in 91 rated fuel unless driving in the mountains (see above).

What evil horror has produced this pricing?

There is a dollar of difference between 87 and 91 rated fuel. That is about right. But there should be 89 rated fuel at around the 70c mark. There is not. There is 88 rated fuel at the 80c mark.

Strait of Hormuz? No, this is surely something else.

It betrays a pretty pessimistic view of Texans’ arithmetical abilities.

And a cynical calculation of how to take advantage of it.

I look at my Mustang.

I do the right thing.