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In the unrelenting pursuit of a more efficient internal-combustion engine, automakers are hoping that their dealer will help wean them off the very drug they’re hooked on. If the oil industry raised the octane rating of regular gasoline, engineers could increase compression ratios, improving fuel efficiency and cutting CO2 emissions. It’s an idea that’s gained the support of Honda executives as well as the United States Council for Automotive Research, a technology alliance among Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.
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But few have been as vocal as Dan Nicholson, GM’s vice president of global propulsion systems, in arguing for what’s certain to be more expensive gas. Nicholson says a well-to-wheel analysis of CO2 emissions suggests the optimum societal benefit comes from a fuel with a 95 or 96 research octane number, or RON [see “RON Pall”]. That’s roughly equivalent to 91-octane premium in the U.S. and on par with the baseline gasoline found throughout much of Europe. Researchers say a driver could expect a roughly 3 percent improvement in fuel economy from vehicles designed to take advantage of the higher octane. Older cars would run the new regular fuel without problem, although they would receive no benefit in efficiency or performance.
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It would likely take a regulatory mandate to facilitate the production and widespread distribution of any new fuel, and such a mandate is improbable under the current presidency and without the endorsement of Big Oil. The American Petroleum Institute declined an interview request for this story.
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John Farrell, who manages the Department of Energy’s Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines program, says that there are two viable methods for raising the octane rating of gasoline, and both come with economic disincentives for oil companies. Altering processing methods would require large capital investments and higher production costs. Mixing more ethanol into gasoline, around 20 or 25 percent compared with 10 percent today, “would be beneficial from the standpoint of [oil companies] deferring, or not even having to make, large capital investments,” Farrell says. However, reducing the petroleum content of the fuel also cuts the volume the refiner is providing, with a commensurate reduction in revenue.
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- Comparing the Turbo Fours in Honda’s New Accord and the Civic Type R
- Why High-Octane Gas Costs So Much More Than Regular
- Let It Burn: How Quickly Can We Drive Through a Tank of Gas?
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“This is a tough sell,” GM’s Nicholson admits. “It’s very doable from an automotive OEM and a propulsion standpoint. But the real issue is the political will for all the stakeholders to come together.” Even if automakers can entice regulators and oil companies to take up the effort, change won’t come quickly. Nicholson imagines the new regular gas would be phased in over a 10-year period, similar to the switch from leaded to unleaded.
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RON Pall
-There’s more than one method of determining a fuel’s octane rating, which indicates its resistance to knock, the improper combustion that can destroy an engine. Tests for the research octane number, RON, and the motor octane number, MON, vary enough that there’s no direct correlation between the two ratings. American gas pumps display the anti-knock index, which averages a fuel’s RON and MON. The RON method is widely considered the most relevant measure of octane for determining a fuel’s suitability for modern engines.
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Relative to today’s regular gas, it would cost oil companies an estimated three to five cents more to produce 95-RON fuel.
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