The real cost of dumping unleaded....

[Jim Goose]

I thought there was a thread on this already... but couldnt find it?

however this article sums it up nicely.

What the government should do to ease the pain at the pump.

The removal of regular unleaded fuel from petrol stations across NSW - the only Australian state to do so - is an even bigger rort than many motorists may realise.

Since the then Labor NSW government legislated the switch to a basic ethanol blended fuel (E10) in 2007, the price of premium unleaded petrol (PULP) has risen more sharply than the price of regular unleaded.

A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission published last year showed that, over the period from July 2007 to June 2011, the differential between the retail price of regular unleaded and PULP 95 increased by 3.9 cents per litre to about 10.1 cents per litre.
Advertisement: Story continues below

The differential between the retail price of regular unleaded and PULP 98 increased by 4.6 cents per litre to about 14.5 cents per litre.

Some people have already begun to twig to the scam.

"Mick", a petrol distributor in central NSW, told Radio 2GB this morning: "I've noticed since the government mandated the E10, the disparity in the premium price to the unleaded price has slowly grown, because the fuel companies know that people are going to have to go to this premium fuel and they're starting to think, 'we can benefit out of that'."

So here's a suggestion for the Premier of NSW, Barry O'Farrell: pass legislation that requires all petrol retailers to display the full price of PULP - before shopping docket or other discounts - on their large outdoor display boards.

PULP now accounts for about a quarter of all petrol sales.

Compulsory outdoor pricing of undiscounted and unblended PULP might encourage enough competition to make the fuel slightly more affordable for the 750,000 NSW owners of vehicles whose pre-1986 cars can't run on E10.

It would also benefit the increasing number of newer vehicles that also insist on premium petrol.

Why should these drivers continue to get stiffed with less obvious pricing competition? Today, in most cases, drivers requiring PULP don't know the price of the fuel until they pull up to the bowser.

The government may also want to find a way to monitor or restrict new, ethanol-blended PULP fuels, which some smaller outlets are starting to sell.

EPULP will only add to motorist confusion - who will pick up the tab if a driver of a pre-1986 vehicle mistakenly fills his or her car with ethanol-blended premium petrol?

The consequences of using EPULP in an unsuitable car are the same as using E10: it will ruin the fuel delivery system.

The other point lost in this debate is the miniscule reduction in emissions. Litre per litre, ethanol produces about 37 per cent less C02 tailpipe emissions than regular unleaded - 1.51kg per litre compared to 2.39kg per litre.

But you need to burn more ethanol blended fuel to travel the same distance as a car using regular or premium unleaded.

Science tells us that ethanol burns 34 per cent faster than regular unleaded - which means the net benefit at the tailpipe is diminished.

The reduction in C02 emissions at the tailpipe can be as little as 2 to 10 per cent, while the cost benefits are also debatable, despite the lower price at the bowser.

As has been widely reported, regular unleaded bowsers are due to disappear from NSW petrol stations by July this year, but some operators have removed them early.

In the meantime, stand-by for an increase in "drive-offs", or what police report as "fail to pay" for petrol.

According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, there were 9526 "drive-offs" in the state from July 2010 to June 2011.

The Bureau estimates that every 10-cent increase in the price of a litre of petrol generates another 120 incidents of petrol theft (technically: service station fraud) per month.

Imagine what will happen when 750,000 motorists are suddenly forced to pay more than 10 cents per-litre more than regular unleaded. Sadly, we won't need to imagine for very long.

The Bureau predicts that if petrol prices reach $1.70, the number of incidents of petrol theft will climb to 1600 per month - more than double the current rate of 750 per month. 


Theft of vehicle number plates will rise more sharply, too.

The Bureau says number plates remain the most frequently stolen item from cars - and number plate thefts are already up 32.8 per cent in the 12 months to September 2011.

Almost as many number plates are stolen as there are petrol "drive-offs". The Bureau says 8990 number plates were stolen from vehicles between July 2010 and June 2011.

Theft of number plates is an avoidable inconvenience for otherwise law-abiding citizens.

I have several friends who've woken to a bare car, and then had to turn their day upside down to fill in paperwork and get new number plates from the RTA.

All this, and for what?

Clearly, people who own pre-1986 cars won't be the only ones who'll pay dearly for the ban on regular unleaded.

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/t...124-1qeyc.html

Please no politics... or party related comments

[burnz]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

I thought there was a thread on this already... but couldnt find it?

however this article sums it up nicely.



http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/t...124-1qeyc.html

Please no politics... or party related comments

unfortunaly it is politcal, pork barreling at it's best

[SSD-85]

The interesting thing, is that this article leads onto talking about petrol & number plate theft. Also, how Petrol companies are cashing in on the increased requirements for PULP. Somehow trying to link mandatory E10 to this.

But hey, we wont talk about excise tax, or why Govco wont stop Petrol giants rorting us on whats essentially a mandatory requirement for living in modern society. We will just blame Ethanol instead. Cos thats what the public wants to hear.

[falconnut]

Couldnt have said it better myself scott.

I really dont have anything else to add other than ill miss regular.

But i use Premium alot anyway.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by Scotty85

The interesting thing, is that this article leads onto talking about petrol & number plate theft. Also, how Petrol companies are cashing in on the increased requirements for PULP. Somehow trying to link mandatory E10 to this.

But hey, we wont talk about excise tax, or why Govco wont stop Petrol giants rorting us on whats essentially a mandatory requirement for living in modern society. We will just blame Ethanol instead. Cos thats what the public wants to hear.

http://machinegunkeyboard.com/?p=335#r9x0gfMoMGgL
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...588384214.html

that barrel has a lot of pork..

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by burnz

http://machinegunkeyboard.com/?p=335#r9x0gfMoMGgL
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...588384214.html

that barrel has a lot of pork..

As amazing as those articles are, they have exactly what to do with my post....?

Im making reference to the article stylising itself to link E10 to higher PULP prices & theft. As opposed to more tangible reasoning. Not its impact on the environment or how Mr Howard BS'ed about it.

[burnz]

ok, i will leave it at that..

[bmorris]

I'm a liberal voter but this decision has got me. Surely they can see how this is going to hurt the average person in Australia. Makes no sense

[falconnut]

Politics and corporate greed makes perfect sense to politicians and CEO's

[2011G6E]

Here's an idea...stop making watered down petrol! Go back to unleaded and premium...forget the heavily subsidised ethanol blended rubbish that, in NSW alone, that article says 750,000 people will be inconvenienced and hit in the hip pocket by being forced to go to premium...

If people think premium is expensive, wait until the government removes all the subsidies from ethanol mixed fuel and the true costs are added into the final cost to the consumer...

[SM1DY]

Does anyone know the average price of E85? Specific what state please/

[burnz]

Originally Posted by SM1DY

Does anyone know the average price of E85? Specific what state please/

around 99 cpl in sydey and central coast