According to new AAA research, American drivers wasted more than $2.1 billion dollars 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 having used premium fuel despite the vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation. AAA conducted a comprehensive fuel evaluation to determine what, if any, benefit the practice offers to consumers and found no benefit to using premium gasoline in a vehicle that requires regular-grade fuel
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. The laboratory 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.
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 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.
And here I always though that people with cars, like mine, that require premium gas using mid-grade were the problem…
gas pump photo: By Anthony Inswasty – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35373146