Gaslighting

[msconduct]

 I've read a lot of complaints from people in the US recently about the price of gas, which seems to be about $3/gallon. I've always been vague about the conversion to litres, not just from gallons but from AMERICAN gallons, which I have no clue about at all. But I just looked it up and did the conversion. A US gallon of gas at $3.60 is around 95 cents a litre.

I'm crying. Gas, or petrol as we call it in New Zealand, is around $3 a litre, or more than three times the cost in the US. Other than a very brief dip in 2016, petrol hasn't been under $1/litre since 2000.

Comments

[msconduct]

Wow, it's so variable over the US! I wonder what contributes to such a lot of variation. Google google - I see, mostly fuel taxes in the bluer areas are higher, plus the proximity to a refinery matters. Makes sense.

[spiffikins]

Yeah, taxes and environmental thingies - hence why blue states have higher ones, since red states seem to think climate change isn't a Real Thing. sigh.


In the winter they change the "mix" and the prices go down a TINY bit, and in the summer they change again, and the prices go up (more than they went down, tbh)

The difference involves the fuel’s Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP), which is a measure of how easily the fuel evaporates at a given temperature. Winter-blend gas has a higher RVP because the fuel must be able to evaporate at low temperatures for the engine to operate properly. Summer-blend gas has a lower RVP to prevent excessive evaporation when outside temperatures rise.