Actually, there is a single reason for it: Taxes. To use your home country of Switzerland as an example, taxes are 73.12 cents per liter. That's $2.99/gallon in taxes. In other countries it's even worse. In France, 64% of the total cost of gasoline is taxes (exise + VAT), and in the Netherlands it's 69%. Those figures mean that the amount of tax is almost exactly double the actual cost of the fuel, thus the final price paid at the pump is triple what the oil company is charging you.

You are correct that somebody's making a tidy profit. It just isn't who you thought.

 

I've always found it interesting that when I'm in Toronto (both business and family), the cars and the use of fuel is no different than us in the states, despite the significantly higher costs. But when in Québec (business), the cars and use of fuel seem to be much less. The cars seem to be older and even very many entry level models. In Vancouver BC (pleasure), seemed same as Toronto. And fuel in the NW was imho very pricey, I remember going to Costco and doing regular for the rental minivan, $3.409, and that was their hometown as well.

NJ is a crying shame, cheap gas for 50+ years, now relatively expensive. Fascinating too how many states have billionaire governors, it's fun, it's kidding, why not play the game in real life? Power in the public sector must be the ultimate trip!

 

I guess I have again bought the wrong type of car at the wrong time. Gonna cost more to feed my GX.

 

I don't know this for a fact, but my strong guess is that the CA blend has more ethanol in it. Ethanol burns much cleaner than gas, but has far less energy...about 40% less per gallon. So, all else equal, the more ethanol is blended in with the gas, the lower the average mileage with it is going to be.

 

Won't happen. People with the money to drop 60,70,100k on these trucks can afford the fuel bill.

Most said SUVs aren't even terribly inefficient anymore, compared to a decade ago when prices skyrocketed to $4. 25MPG hwy on a Suburban is downright impressive. My '03 Yukon the average is 12.9, lol. It might get 15 on the highway.

In any case cheap gas is here to stay for a long time.

 

I don't know all the details why (outside of the French influence), but Quebec has traditionally had a different culture from the rest of Canada. As you note, that could (?) also reflect in their driving habits. In fact, Quebec, at least once (and possibly twice) has attempted secession-referendums......which came close to passing.

 

Cali has their own special blends no one else can make and no one else is allowed to sell into the state. Hence why there was a "gas shortage" when a couple of their only refineries went down for turnaround. Funny how no one else had a shortage but werent allowed to sell surplus gas to cali for a nice premium. Isnt it nice to spend dramatically more for cali gas only to get less mpg for it.

 

One reason, though, why Cali has special blends (and often higher prices to produce those fuels) is the unique weather circumstances along coastal California which produce the famous L.A.-region smogs. The cold ocean temperature (and usually light winds) produces a classic inversion which traps emissions and pollutants at ground level and doesn't allow them to disperse or scatter. At one time (it's not anywhere near as bad now as it once was, thanks to cleaner fuels), the whole SoCal region was almost constantly engulfed in a brown haze so thick it was almost unbreathable.

 

Thanks for the education, mmarshall! I have lived in California for close to 40 years and did not know any of that. I recall the San Joaquin valley being described as a bowl of smog in the 1990s and always wondered why I never hear about that anymore. Glad things have improved. The first time I drove outside of California I was amazed at how smooth other interstate highways are and how much cheaper gas is outside my home State. I always thought the higher Cali gas price was due to taxes to support the infrastructure (although all the extra gas tax doesn't appear to produce better roads).

 

Oh yes, gas taxes do indeed play a big role.....California is a classic tax-and-spend state, only, as you note, they don't always spend it on highway re-paving. They HAVE, obviously, spent it on an alternate-fuel infrastructure that many other states lack. But the special requirements for unusual blends of blends of gasoline (which, due to the limited volume, are not cost-efficient) trace their origins to the classic L.A. smog, which was a huge problem for decades, going back as far as the 1950s when the L.A. region really started to develop.

CA, of course, regulated not only gas, but the sale of many vehicles themselves. Many of them sold in CA had to have extra emissions hardware on them (and pass special tests) that vehicles sold and registered outside the state didn't. And, conversely, that is why a number of alternate-fuel vehicles from some manufacturers (for instance, the natural-gas Honda Civic) were available ONLY in California.

 

This got me thinking on what the states are with the highest gas taxes.

1) Pennsylvania 57.6 cents
2) Washington State 49.9 cents
3) California 47.7 cents

Here are the lowest:

1) Alaska 8.95 cents
2) Hawaii 16.0 cents
3) Virginia 16.2 cents


Source

 

Interesting. I would have expected Texas or Oklahoma to have the lowest. Perhaps Texas needs the income from fuel-sales, though, to compensate for its lack of a state income tax.

 

Missouri has a 17-cent tax. There's currently a proposal to increase it by 2 cents each year until it reaches 27 cents per gallon...

 

 

How high? We in TN pay no state income either but sales is 9.75%. It hurts when you buy something expensive (over $1000), but I'll take that over paying income taxes any day. Gas is always among the lowest, always below the average.