After checking the ethanol content of 6 neighborhood gas stations both top tier and not i found out no one had more than %8 ethanol. 711 had the lowest at %5 and shell 93 was the highest at %8. I may switch to Valero as my reg gas station over costco as it was Top Tier with %6 ethanol with a lower price than costco. Would you switch?
Neighborhood gas Ethanol question
- Thread starter jeff4423
- Start date
Never had any issues with Valero gas since it became top tire, so yes I would switch from Costco.
dnewton3
Staff member
Everything around me in the Midwest is generally 10%. I'd love to find something lower. Consider yourself lucky.
Assuming you want lower ethanol content, yes, I'd switch.
With "only" 6 stations involved, I'd love to see the spread of prices.
Thanks in advance for posting the prices!
In my neck of the woods (No. NJ and points north), Valero popped up overnight.
Old metal storage tanks aged out around at the same time here.
Valero swept in and revamped older stations and CHARGED THE MOST.
Here that means the same or more than Shell, BP and Sunoco, in that order.
Nobody patronized them and quickly -really quickly- Valeros began to fold. The ones which remain are competitively priced.
The Costco station near me (Teterboro, NJ) isn't favorably priced at all.
In fact, the sparring match in gas price wars here are 3 and 5 cent jumps with surprising erraticism.
I know from experience that many people find this entertaining, some bewildering.
Wanna hear a Costco story? You do ?
The SW property at the intersection NJ Rt. 17 and Linwood Ave. in Paramus, NJ hosts two very large, derelict retail barns and a strip of empty shops
At its southern point is a modernized, premium gas station which is ideally located on the southbound highway.
It's somehow separated from the rest of the parcel.
Costco requires the gas station in the deal...so things seem stalled.
Too bad, if true.
Costco's first building here is on the Hackensack River. When the land at Teterboro was developed -the first radar in the US was tested here- Costco relocated and converted the original store to a "business supply" center featuring printer paper, cleaner and office snacks.
Opening a third site in such a tight circle might have made one older location close.
A new venture in vibrant Hackensack could be exciting.
With "only" 6 stations involved, I'd love to see the spread of prices.
Thanks in advance for posting the prices!
In my neck of the woods (No. NJ and points north), Valero popped up overnight.
Old metal storage tanks aged out around at the same time here.
Valero swept in and revamped older stations and CHARGED THE MOST.
Here that means the same or more than Shell, BP and Sunoco, in that order.
Nobody patronized them and quickly -really quickly- Valeros began to fold. The ones which remain are competitively priced.
The Costco station near me (Teterboro, NJ) isn't favorably priced at all.
In fact, the sparring match in gas price wars here are 3 and 5 cent jumps with surprising erraticism.
I know from experience that many people find this entertaining, some bewildering.
Wanna hear a Costco story? You do ?
The SW property at the intersection NJ Rt. 17 and Linwood Ave. in Paramus, NJ hosts two very large, derelict retail barns and a strip of empty shops
At its southern point is a modernized, premium gas station which is ideally located on the southbound highway.
It's somehow separated from the rest of the parcel.
Costco requires the gas station in the deal...so things seem stalled.
Too bad, if true.
Costco's first building here is on the Hackensack River. When the land at Teterboro was developed -the first radar in the US was tested here- Costco relocated and converted the original store to a "business supply" center featuring printer paper, cleaner and office snacks.
Opening a third site in such a tight circle might have made one older location close.
A new venture in vibrant Hackensack could be exciting.
was this a 1 time test, or have you repeated the Data? the next batch delivered could have a different mix.
Tangential example: here in the US what's Labeled as E-85, can be anywhere from 50% to 85% Ethanol.
I think most of the pumps around here say "UP TO 10% Ethanol"... after all, it is still a human operating the controls when they fill the tankers.
Did they post the exact percentage of ethanol? I've only seen "up to" 10% ethanol may be in the fuel.
If there were a class room full of dummies, you could put a sign on the door "students in this room have IQs up to 150", even if the brightest student had an actual IQ of 80.
"UP TO" does not equate with "ACTUAL"
"UP TO" does not equate with "ACTUAL"
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Aren't Costco gas stations strictly maintained with higher cleanliness and filtration standards? If so, probably worth the small premium vs Valero.
Refiners are given a annual quota by the EPA on how much ethanol they must use. They can use it as they see fit, so I presume they do so in whatever way is most profitable / affordable.
I wouldn't plan on it being the same over time. If you do change stations, test it again in a month - see what it is then.
I wouldn't plan on it being the same over time. If you do change stations, test it again in a month - see what it is then.
So i learned florida does not have a Ethanol mandate so no one is required to even use it. I have continued testing on 5 local top tier stations and they all seem to average 6-7percent this week. I started using gasbuddy with .20 discount on shell premium which makes it the same as costco in my neighborhood. I also learned costco prices fluctuate around 1pm and tuesday afternoons seem to be the best prices but its still based on commodity prices. It will be interesting to see if florida changes to a summer gas with less Ethanol in june. Yes im in a deep rabbit hole....
There are only a handful of midwestern states + Oregon and Washington that have an ethanol mandate.
However the fed mandates the refiners use a certain amount - their quota is set each year by refinery. How much they use varies I suppose. I should test here - but note the same station could be different next week.
So you didn't know Top Tier has an 8% ethanol mandate of their own?
Top Tier isn't really top tier.
I have heard that only here and cannot find any published evidence of that even when searching for it. The 76 / P66 station around here sell Premium 91 octane E0, and claim to be TT - they have the stickers on the pumps.
I imagine most pump gas has a lot of octane whether its required or not - because again, the refiners MUST use a certain amount. There is no refiner that is exempt. E0 around here is about $1 more a gallon, and only at a few places - mostly that cater to the boating crowd.
If you have any links discussing this it would be appreciated.
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Isn't ethanol used to boost octane ratings?
How do you then explain the consistency of lower than %8 in the TT gas in my neighborhood?
Golly, I must be wrong because your Top Tier stations and ability to measure ethanol content are beyond reproach!
Or you could read this document. https://www.toptiergas.com/wp-conte...eposit-Control-Performance-Standard_Rev-G.pdf
Have to go all the way to page 2:
"Contain enough denatured ethanol such that the ethanol content is no less than 8.0 and no more than 10.0 volume percent as measured by ASTM D 4815 or D 5845. In markets with lower fuel ethanol content, fuel matching the market conditions of fuel ethanol content can be used up on approval."
As for "markets with lower fuel ethanol content" the Federal 10% rule applies to all distributors. That to sell less than 10% one must sell sufficient E85 to make up for it. Top Tier believes 8%-10% ethanol makes for better fuel.
Thanks for posting. This statement alone makes me want to avoid top tier. Maybe those saying its a bunch of marketing junk are correct? "Top Tier believes 8%-10% ethanol makes for better fuel." I mean I suppose if your in the business of selling gasoline, you would prefer to sell gas with less energy. Crooks.
However per my highlights above, there are only 130 Refineries in the US. They are allocated how much ethanol they use (minimum amount). They do get a subsidy, but unless crude is especially expensive they only use what ethanol they have to because it costs more. So the refineries could care less about Top Tier. They blend ethanol based on seasonality, availability, and cost. There not going to formulate a special blend for "top tier" stations. Laughable.
Like I said my 76 station sells 90 octane zero ethanol "top tier" gas?
