The energy plan also calls for an increase fuel economy standards 4% per year, up to $4 billion in retooling tax credits and loan guarantees for domestic auto plants and parts manufacturers to support their manufacture of the new fuel-efficient cars, a mandate for all new vehicles to be flex-fuel vehicles, and a call for America to develop next-generation biofuels and the required infrastructure.

Jalopnik Snap Judgment: We're as wary of campaign promises as the next guys, but some of the elements of Obama's proposal make sense. While a plug-in White House fleet is just a nice PR move, significant tax credits that encourage people to take a chance on new technology is good for both consumers and automakers. Additionally, while we don't think any US automaker bailouts are a good idea, providing loan guarantees and retooling tax credits for domestic manufacturers will provide them with needed breathing room as they realign their product mix. Do they deserve that breathing room after gorging themselves on trucks for a decade? Debatable, but to paraphrase: You go to market with the car companies you have, not the car companies you want. [Green Car Congress; Photo Credit: Gizmodo]

Not surprisingly, technologies not readily available in the U.S. didn't fare well on the study. For example, clean diesel engines barely registered a blip, in large part because they're just entering the market. Said Mike Marshall, director of the study: "The mere fact that they'll be in the marketplace is going to raise the awareness level of clean diesel, and I think that will begin to crack some of these wrong perceptions of what diesel is today."

While clean diesel is already chosen by a majority of European buyers, it remains to be seen whether economies of scale allow it to be implemented in the States at a lower price premium than that found on hybrids; new offerings from VW, Mercedes, and even Honda in the next 12 months should provide some insight into diesel pricing strategy. Additionally, as hybrid sales numbers rise, the same economies of scale should allow prices to fall. But, for either to happen, first some folks have to pony up the premium. Chicken, meet egg.
[Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]

Ordinarily, we wouldn't have given SwiftFuel a second glance due to the snake-oil style claims it makes. But in this case, the information came with a whiff of credibility thanks to a writeup by columnist Robert X. Cringely at PBS.org, including an interview with Mary Russek, half of the husband and wife team behind the company. Factor in the company's web site and a mention on Slashdot, and that's four different places you can find SwiftFuel on the internet. But is there any real information?

First, we looked at Swift Enterprises' claims about SwiftFuel, which are easy to spot thanks to the light-blue 20-point text on their MySpace entry:

• Completely renewable with no petroleum: Fair enough, it's 100% ethanol based, so that claim seems plausible enough.
  
• 50% improvement in mileage over E-85 and 10-15% improvement over gasoline: I grouped these together since the math is basically the same. Still, this is a huge claim, considering that ethanol has only 75% of the energy density of gasoline. To achieve the required energy density, one would need to boost ethanol with another chemical or create a new hydrocarbon from the ethanol base stock.
  
• 20% fewer emissions than gasoline: You had me at "a 15% improvement in mileage." But the global warming benefits are certainly icing on the cake, and seem to point toward an oxygenate in the fuel.
  
• No engine modifications, additives or stabilizers are needed: In other words, you don't need a FlexFuel engine to run SwiftFuel, nor do you have to dump a quart of STP in the tank to keep from burning a valve. So, whatever they're using is chemically inert.
  

So is SwiftFuel real? To paraphrase legions of X-Files fans, "We want to believe!" But we don't. When Robert Cringely and the Ruseks swing by our office with a jerrycan full of SwiftFuel for us to test, we'll bring you more. Until then, SwiftFuel belongs in the same category as Water 4 Gas and the Tornado.
[Slashdot]

Jackson sees the latest fuel crisis as a two-pronged beast: On one hand, sustained higher fuel prices will drive consumers (and manufacturers) to more fuel-efficient vehicles, eventually reducing our consumption of oil and improving national security. On the other hand, high gas prices are dragging down the economy, wrecking his profits, and generally suck.

However, Jackson is taking a refreshingly long-term view of the situation, and concluding that the country, its citizens, and its businesses (his included) will be fundamentally better off in the end by learning to cope with high energy costs. Given that the OPEC supply wildcard has been supplanted by the much less predictable speculator wildcard this time around, plus China proving it has an appetite to match our own, a long-term view may be the only right answer.

But Jackson acknowledges that if energy prices change, all bets are off. "I'm a good car salesman," Mr. Jackson says. "If I have high gas prices and an open-minded consumer, it's very doable. There is a connection between their needs and what we have to offer them. If we have cheap gasoline, it's mission impossible."

In other words, take your medicine, kids. It doesn't taste good, but you'll feel better tomorrow. Now pardon me, but I'm off to drive my G-Wagen. The beatings begin in five, four, three...
[WSJ.com]

[Via The Scooter Scoop]

So all is not lost with the rust-plagued Tulsa Time Capsule Belvedere! Turns out the gasoline samples in the trunk (stored there in case gasoline couldn't be found in 2007) are of great interest to modern-day petroleum geochemists, who are always on the lookout for "age-related" samples for testing. – Murilee Martin

Gas Buried With Plymouth to Be Tested [Forbes]

Related:
Tulsa Belvedere Winner Died In 1979; Relatives To Get Car; Winner of Buried Tulsa Belvedere Announced!; The Tulsa, Oklahoma Plymouth? Not OK; Oklahoma Plymouth, OK?; Damn! Buried Tulsa Belvedere's Tomb Full Of Water! [internal]

Back in the early 20th century, US regulators decreed that the official definition of a gallon of gasoline was 231 cubic inches at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. All well and good, but the problem is that gasoline expands somewhat as temperature increases, meaning that you're actually getting less energy per dollar when you buy gas warmer than 60º F. According to consumer-watchdog types, this translates to something like 3 to 9 cents extra per gallon at the pump this summer. The House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, chaired by presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, says retailers should adjust prices based on fuel temperature; retailers say such a move would cause the destruction of the American Way Of Life. – Murilee Martin

As fuel expands, so does cost [Houston Chronicle]

Related:
Guess What Yesterday Was? Record High Gas Prices Day! [internal]

Some Norwegian politicos seem to have let all of those Burzum records go to their head and are intent on killing the gasoline internal-combustion engine as dead as Mayhem frontman Euronymous. Ruling Labor, Socialist Left and Center party wonks are checking to see if a ban on gasoline-powered vehicle sales would be illegal, forcing a move to biofuels on the part of automakers who want to do business in the Scandanavian nation. According to Truls Wickstrom of the Transport Committee, "Most of the major car makers are banking on flexi-fuel." Yep, Truls. They're also banking on hydrogen, electricity and diesel. Except Ferrari. Ferrari don't play that. – Davey G. Johnson

Norway Could Ban Gasoline-Powered Cars [The Money Times]

Related:
iTunes Declared Illegal in Norway [Gizmodo]; Hoon of the Day: TTAC Reader Ronan Hits 330kph in Norway. Twice! [Internal]

Westlake, California, February 3, 2007. Apparently the Russian uber-multinational is going to save us American consumers money by not wasting it on a team of graphic designers obsessed with the finer points of signage. And if rumors hold, Gasprom Chairman Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is going to swap jobs with Putin in 2008. Meaning that ex-KGB chief Vladimir himself will be selling premium fuel to yuppie Benzes in bourgeois paradise. A brave new world, indeed. – Jonny Lieberman

Gasprom [wikipedia]

Related:
Meet Me At The Red Star Drive-In, Comrade! [Internal]

Some of us here at Jalopnik exist in the form of smokers. We're stupid, we know, but it is not our fault. To sorta-quote Dave Berry, "If the government was serious about stopping kids from smoking, they would eliminate the 10th grade." Somehow this all goes back to a night long ago during 10th grade. We were at a gas station and yelled at a girl we knew who was smoking while filling her car. She flipped us off, and told her stupid gang-banger boyfriend that we had called her a "dumb bitch" for puffing and pumping. There was some pushing and shoving though fists never flew. What that fine, upstanding member of the totally pathetic upper-middle class suburban gang Houston Hoods did not understand was that we didn't want the gas station to blow up and kill us. All of us, including his dumb bitch girlfriend. Yes, I talk smack about high school bullies on a blog. No, I don't LARP. – Jonny Lieberman

Gas station explosion kills 4, injures at least 9 [associated press]

Related:
Gas Station Goof: Diesel Ain't Unleaded [Internal]

Has anyone gone out and tried to fill up today? If you're in the Midwest, you're paying anywhere between $2.80 and $2.99. Even Michigan's auto-friendly Governor Granholm has launched an online petition to send to President Bush asking him WTF is going on. On the West Coast, we've heard prices are approaching $3.00 (or $4.00 in Beverly Hills...but that's mostly due to the TomKat family's fleet of Ford's used the other day). Out on the East Coast, prices hit $3.00 a gallon — that is if you can find any gas to fill up with — as reports of gas-less stations are sifting up from local media outlets. All of this gets us thinking maybe there is more we could be doing, especially with Earth Day tomorrow. Well, at least the Main Stream Media is all over this. CNN has the touching story above of a man pawning his watch for gas — to run his 1991 Jaguar.

Green Driving - Boost Your MPG [AOL Autos]
Gas Outage at Some Local Pumps [6abc.com]
Sign Now to Lower Gas Prices! [State of Michigan]

Related:
More on gas prices [internal]

Methyl tertiary butyl ether and California used to be tight like Walter and The Dude. But then MTBE got all overzealous and screwed up the mission by polluting the groundwater. So Cali partnered up with ethanol, but you know, things with ethanol weren't really working, either, as it actually increased air pollution in some ways. So finally, after a bunch of pestering, the Feds tossed off an "Okay kids, have it your way," and let go of a Clean Air Act mandate to force states into using oxygenates in congested metro area. Plus, y'know, we may even save a buck or two per tank.

EPA lifts requirements for states to add ethanol, MTBE to gas [Sacramento Bee]

Related:
Mmmm Thirst-Quenching Motor Fuel! Shell, ExxonMobil Create Cleaner-Burning, Non-Lethal Fuel

We've often joked with CTE that activists who oppose our activities in the Middle East shouldn't be screaming, "No Blood For Oil!" but rather, "Blood for No Oil!?!" given the price of fuel these days. Perhaps mindful of that very idea, the New York Blood Center and Mobil have teamed up to offer a $5 gift card to people who donate blood between December 22nd and January 9th. [Thanks to Eben for the tip.]

blood for oil? [flickr] New York Blood Center

Related:
What We Want is Free, Part 2: Gratis Gas from Chrysler

Man, this web ad takes us back to the time we saw a crack whore giving an exceedingly well-hung man a blowjob behind our friend's tour van in San Francisco. Mazda's come up with a new web spot for their 5 that features an SUV in debt to his dealer/pump. It's kinda clich , but the bit at the end really tugs at our addict heartstrings. And baby? We'll unscrew your gas cap anytime. Oh, need an Altoid?

Mazda5 Gas Buddy [Internal]

Related:
Mazda Blog Busted as Viral Marketing Gimmick is Taken Down [Internal]

DCX's Chrysler Group has decided to kill two birds with one stone: #1, they've stuck a Tabasco-coated thumb in the eye of former lover Mitsubishi by offering two years of free gas on any '05 or '06 model (as long as it's not an LX car, a Viper, or a Merc-sourced Sprinter, natch) purchased before January 3rd, plus free maintenance for the same period, and a warranty extension up to 5 years and 60,000 miles on the mechanical bits. #2, they're hoping it steals some of the thunder from GM's Red Tag and Ford's Keep it Simple promotions. It all adds up to a savings of around six large per vehicle.

Chrysler Group to Give Free Gas With Car

Related:
What We Want is Free...If We Buy Unwanted Mitsubishis

Somehow we picture Fed Head Alan Greenspan with a Billy Gibbons-length beard, tokin' on a fat doobie, mellowing out to the sounds of the Jefferson Airplane and exhaling with a flourish while proclaiming, "[T]he recent surge in energy prices will undoubtedly be a drag from now on, [maaan,]" at a speech Tuesday in Tokyo to Japanese businessmen. (In Japan, today is already the past!) In our fantasy, said Japanese businessmen scream like it's Live At Budokan all over again, and after the speech they all go back to Al's full-custom Dodge Tradesman for like, some Pocky Sticks and blow or something.

Still, we're not fantasizing when we report to you that light sweet crude futures have now dropped to $63.64 for November, down from a high of $70.85 on August 30th, during the height of Katrinamania. The reason for this most recent 73-cent fall? Tropical Storm Wilma's been kind enough to at least momentarily stop threatening Gulf Coast oil facilities and turn to menace those commie bastards in Cuba and Florida instead.

Crude Oil Prices Fall [Forbes]

Related:
Are The Days of Cheap Gas Coming Back? [Internal]

We used to have a boss who had a tendency to wear a Promise Keepers shirt. Frankly, that always creeped us out somewhat. Conversely, he'd also tell stories of being a coked-up teenager who performed amazing automotive stunts while drunk. And he often kept a copy of US News in the office restroom, along with issues of Inc., which given the way he ran the company, former co-worker and fab-tipster-boy CTE is convinced he never actually read. That scarily Jesusfied Dubya-parallel stigma aside, the conservative newsweekly's come up with an interesting list that places the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and the Corvette Z06 at the top of the Muscle Per Gallon Index, with respective scores of 88.4 and 80.80. More ammunition for the horsepower-phobic hybrid advocates, we suppose, as the Prius is clearly the only vehicle anyone needs.

Muscle Per Gallon Index [US News]

Related:
Camless Engines Promise Greater Efficiency [Internal]

With most of the news about consumer-level gas prices sounding like a 1970s disaster movie — and per-barrel prices solidly in the $60 range — industry optimists are hard to come by. Because we're somewhat perversely drawn to the counterintuitive, countercultural argument, we point out a column in The Truth About Cars. In it, writer William Sargant makes a case for a return of retail gas prices of $1.00 to $1.50 per gallon (yes, that decimal point is in the right place). The price at the pump, he writes, has less to do with the price of barreled crude than with the price of political will. What's this guy smoking, you ask? Sub-economies, that's what.

The Truth About Gas [The Truth About Cars]

Related:
Mis-Priced Gas Sends Customers Back to the Glory Days [internal]

It could have been a storyline from "The Twilight Zone," minus Rod Serling's Lucky Strike—fueled monologue. Customers of a gas station in Lincoln, Nebraska were recently transported back to around 1955, after a station manager accidentally set the premium unleaded pump to sell go-juice for $0.29 a gallon. The pump continued its ten-for-one sale for around 45 minutes, before the manager discovered the mistake. After that, Claude Aiken led a torch-wielding mob up the hill toward weird, old Mr. Miller's barn.

Mistake Leads to 29-Cent Gas Price [AP]

Related:
Gas Station Goof: Diesel Ain't Unleaded [internal]

While over sixty-one bucks a barrel ain't exactly change for chumps, at this point, we'll take what we can get. Especially considering we've got a 1,400-mile drive in an SUV pulling a loaded trailer coming up in a week or so. Apparently, news that Americans have been driving less has driven the prices down globally, and in fact, at one point yesterday, crude did drop below $61, nine bucks a bbl lower than its August high. Still, some analysts think that many Americans will become comfortable in their non-driving habits, their hopes bolstered by lessened gas consumption and booming bicycle purchases.

Oil hits two-month low as US cars idle [ABC News]

Related:
What We Want is Free...If We Buy Unwanted Mitsubishis [Internal]

The Truth About Oil [The Truth About Cars]

With all of the Rita-induced gridlock on northbound Texas freeways, many people have taken to pushing their vehicles to conserve fuel. Tired of playing Sisyphus, the beleaguered refugees are calling for the Feds to supply them with gasoline to keep the traffic crawling steadily away from the coming devastation. The problem? The roads are so full of cars, the tanker trucks can't get through. Our neighbor told us last night that she'd even witnessed a run on the gas station at a local supermarket here in Austin, now well out of the storm's path.

Our question: why can't they simply air-drop fuel bladders like they do in those Tom Clancy novels? This whole situation also brings to mind one other question: Didn't Eisenhower demand the Interstate highway system to be built so people could get around in times of emergency and the military could move men, materiel and missiles? Yes, yes he did. Oh, dear Dwight, if you could only see us now...

Federal government promises fuel deliveries to Rita evacuees [CNN]

Related:
New Gas-Price Widget for Mac OSX Tiger [Internal]

We're not exactly sure why this happened, but we know that in the wake of Katrina and the impending onslaught of Rita, people in the petroleum industry are naturally distracted. Still, this strikes us as a pretty major gaffe: a tanker-truck operator in the Fort Wayne, IN area filled a petrol tank with diesel fuel. The mistake wasn't discovered until drivers who'd filled up their tanks with the wrong fuel began to experience stalling soon after restarting their cars. Though the Citgo station owners are taking full responsibility for the repairs, something tells us that tanker truck driver might be haulin' not-from-concentrate OJ sooner than later.

Tanker Mistakenly Pumps Diesel into Gas Storage Tank [WANE 15]

Related:
Wacky Brits Create Petrol Direct [Internal]

So Vic Bondi's Chicago hardcore dream hasn't quite come true, but if you're considering the purchase of a certain '05 Mitsu, you could score between 1,000 and 2,500 bucks worth of gas for making a purchase. Mitsubishi's giving away debit cards calculated in amounts to allow you to drive 12,000 miles in the vehicle (no word if this'll be adjusted in the wake of the expected gas price hikes that'll accompany Hurricane Rita, which is bearing down on Jalopnik's Tejas outpost as we write this). The choices? Doozies one and all Galants, Eclipse Spyders, Endeavors and Monteros. And though the gas may be free, you'll still need a credit rating; might need to do some mass-market slaving.

Mitsubishi offers year of free gas with some cars [Rocky Mountain News]

Related:
A Brief History of Fuel Prices [Internal]

Interestingly, a gallon of gas, in real dollars, is now less expensive than a pack of smokes. In the 1940s, both were around 20 cents a gallon. Now cigarettes generally range from $4-5 a pack in most states, while gas, despite its recent spike, is still, on average a buck cheaper. The solution? Quit smoking and start huffing gas. Or keep smoking and walk or ride your bike. But please, please don't smoke while huffing gas. The Car Connection's got an interesting take on the price of gasoline over the years, as well as forecasts of the effect today's prices will have on the industry. And, as is often the case, the common man gets the shaft.

How Gas Prices Yoostabee [The Car Connection]

Related:
New Gas-Price Widget for Mac OSX Tiger [Internal]

We should've known this was a parody as soon as we saw the BP logo lift. But alas, we're gullible like that. It was only when we checked out their list of fuels, which included lead-enriched, white diesel, red diesel, orange diesel, purple diesel and Vin Diesel (listed as a biofuel) that we knew we'd been had. You snookered us, you mischief-making rapscallions. And for that we're givin' you a goddamn write-up. Happy now?

PetrolDirect

Related:
Will Scrounge for Fuel: More on Cooking-Oil Cars [Internal]

Being eager, but basically cheap and lazy Mac users, we've yet to upgrade to the new widgetified Apple OSX 10.4, whose dashboard function allows for these weird little interfaces, called widgets. Widgets — like this one that allows users to find the lowest gas prices in their area, using data from gaspricewatch — either offer quick, new ways to get at commodity information, or hook users' systems into a Cupertino-based supercomputer that eats human brains for fuel, perhaps as payback for not being able to pepper our online experience with spyware and popup ads.

[Thanks to new Richmond, VA blog R804.com]

Related:
Hurricane Katrina to Send Retail Gas Prices Higher; They re Thirsty in Atlanta: Details on the Hot Lanta Gas Run, and Other Gas News [internal]

We reported yesterday about the basic concept behind Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, but AutoWeek's got a more in-depth explanation of the various strengths of the idea, as well as the difficulties behind implementing the technology. One of the more interesting facts is that a group of researchers running HCCI combustion chambers on quartz-crystal observation cylinders have noted that the diesels can run for three hours before the cylinder walls require cleaning.

Green Cars with a Poof? [AutoWeek]

Related:
Will the Spark Plug Go the Way of the Dodo? [Internal]

While the gas prices in Baghdad by the Bay have long been a bone of contention for Bay Area motorists (sample rant: "We've got all of these freakin' refineries right here and gas is more expensive here than anywhere else in the state!"), drivers in the Mark 1, Mod 0 Baghdad are fuming due to a government decree that private cars (commercial trucks and buses are excepted) can only drive every other day, depending on whether their license plates end in even or odd numbers. The Baghdad po-po are rather bemused by the whole situation, with one officer offering, "If it is the law I suppose we will try to enforce it, but how will I get to the office in the morning in order to do so?" Ah Dubya. Not much of a statesman, and apparently not a whole helluvan oilman, either.

Petrol rationing in a country awash with oil [Telegraph, UK]

Related:
They're Thirsty in Atlanta: Details on the Hot 'Lanta Gas Run, and Other Gas News [Internal]

Engineers at automakers, including GM and Toyota, are experimenting with a plugless ignition called Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), which works like a more refined version of diesel's combustion-via-compression model. HCCI, which the engineers say will work in both diesel and gasoline engines, uses a microchip to calculate the heat required for optimum power and adjust exhaust-valve timing to minutely compensate for changes in fuel composition, as well as engine and external temperatures. While HCCI is still a way off, it's predicted that when ready for prime time, the system could add 20% to fuel economy while tossing fewer unburned hydrocarbons out the tailpipe.

Powering a new generation of cars [ZDNet]

Related:
More on the Gas Crunch: Octane Matters [Internal]

Readers have been chiming in with accounts of the spike in gas prices caused by the current supply crunch. In the Eastern US, from Boston to Atlanta, which gets a sizable portion of its oil from Gulf of Mexico sources, observed increases are in the 15%-30% per-gallon range. Atlanta, however, appears to be in the midst of a wholly different problem. Alex Sladky gives us a personal account of the gas-supply craziness in Atlanta, where gasoline panic caused a run on the pumps this week. It's a big difference in NYC and other Eastern cities, where prices have *merely* spiked, but supply seems relatively strong.

On Wednesday gas went crazy in Atlanta. $6 a gallon was not uncommon by rush hour, with the highest price seen being $9 for premium. The panic started around noon amid rumors of the governor and EPA shutting gas pumps down at 4pm, which was ultimatley untrue. By rush hour lines for gas were well over an hour long, congesting traffic — and required the assistance of law enforcment who were in many instances turning people away. Mind you, this is not an isolated instance this was the case all over the metro Atlanta area. Stations that still have gas, many are out, are charging $3-$4.5.

Just to illustrate a little more, stations had people stationed outside changing the numbers on their signs for pricing by the minute.

The issue was our gas supply was limited because we have four pipelines that pump gas to Atlanta from New Orleans. With no power in New Orleans only one pipeline was operating. — Alex M. Sladky

More regional pricing:
· $3.03 (regular unleaded) in Denver, home of the two-SUV family (Thanks, Josh)
· $3.20 (premium) in Alabama (Thanks, Phillip)
· $3.419 (regular unleaded) in Indianapolis (Thanks, Brian)
· $3.85 (regular unleaded) in Maryland (Thanks, Jeremy)

A quick analysis of the supply crisis, by reader Philip McCarthy:

This is where the domino effect comes in. Chicago is connected to the Gulf by a pipeline, the southern end of which isn't operating, so refineries in Illinois have less gasoline to sell, therefore the price goes up to support their operations. The same can be said of Chattanooga, TN, which supplies Atlanta, though they might be in a more precarious situation. Miami could be in trouble because all their gasoline comes directly from the Gulf. The bright spot in all of this is that there doesn't seem to be much damage to the oil platforms. Granted, Shell's Mars platform is adrift, but something like 95% of all the platforms are ready to go.

The Northeast is in somewhat less of a pickle. While oil supplies to refineries in New Jersey (where else?) have dwindled, we have the port facilities to accommodate large oil tankers, so we could see an ease in gas prices as the Northeast becomes an alternate point of entry. The only question is if Northeastern refineries can supplant the lost capacity of the Gulf.

Related:
Gas-Price Hell. What s the Damage? [internal]

BD from Boston ($2.98 regular — Mass Pike; $3.30 - $3.80 premium) reminds us to discuss cars' need (or not) for high-octane fuel, particularly now that premium is being delivered by armed guards in Brinks trucks rather than truckers in tankers. The quick answer is that an engine's compression ratio (check the manual, or Google your car's specs) determines the need for a particular octane level. The long answer follows after the jump.

A fuel's Octane rating indicates the degree to which it can be compressed before it ignites; among gasoline grades available to consumers, 93 (94 in some places) can withstand the highest degree of compression, 87 (or 85 in some places) the lowest. Using low-Octane fuel in a high-compression engine can result in the gas igniting during compression, not by the spark plug, which is what engine "knocking" is, which can damage an engine.

Still, outside factors can also affect cars' octane requirement, for example, climate — hotter, drier air increases octane requirement — and altitude — the higher above sea level, the lower the requirement — along with driving style — heavy acceleration, stop-and-go traffic, trailer pulling increases octane need.

Carmakers have tweaked cars' tolerance to low-Octane fuel upward, using mechnical technologies and electronic engine management systems to adjust spark timing to acceleration and climate. But in many high-performance and luxury cars — and even some econoboxes — carmakers still recommend 91/93 Octane. The point is, while it's tempting to punch the low number at the pump as a matter of course in the short term, making sure a car's Octane needs are met will mean extended life and keep performance high. Hiho!

Related:
Gas-Price Hell. What s the Damage? [internal]

A friend of ours owns two late-model Hondas, a Civic and a last-generation CRV. Yesterday, he spent nearly $80 to fill their tanks with liquid platnum at something like $3.50 a gallon. At the self-service pump, he met a woman with tears in her eyes. Her Ford Expedition had just sucked down most of her Labor Day Weekend barbecue budget, roughly $120 in $4.00 premium. Instead of smoked salmon and chardonnay, she opined, it would be something closer to PBR and Costco dogs. Our sympathy ran out at "Expedition." (Premium? That's like spiking a baloney sandwich with Beluga caviar), considering we've already got a fresh six of PBR on ice, a package of Costco dogs and Toyota MR2 with a full tank. But we're not exactly the mainstream. One reader in Atlanta (thanks, Ron) wrote in that gas had shot to $4.25 per gallon for high-test, but that one station, he said, was asking $6.00, possibly due to panic. What's going on out there, people? Any stories of craziness? Is the Northeast getting slammed by the supply problem alone, or are some stations — whose margins have already been squeezed by their suppliers, to be fair — taking advantage of the panic? Send in your stories to tips@jalopnik.com. [Update: A reader from Atlanta notes the infamous $6/gallon gas was likely an attempt by one station to quell a run on gas, which had been fed by local media editorializing the likelihood of a gas shortage. Thanks, Peter.]

Related:
Gas Prices Rise, President Decides to Open the Taps [internal]

Having spent a good portion of the past week at the office (i.e., apartment), leaving only to be detained by the NYPD traffic patrol on the 96th St. Transverse for impersonating James Spader in "Less Than Zero," and contributing valuable life-hours to the futile Gawker—New Yorker softball matchup (it sounds way better in the recap), we were caught unaware by the spike in gas prices here in the Northeast.

A quick survey of the NY metro area's fine gas establishments revealed a nasty, brutish, $3.35/gallon average for regular, sparked by the effects of Katrina on the Gulf of Mexico's oil industry (not to ignore the unthinkable human devastation). For perspective's sake, in 1981 (a previous price peak) the average price of gasoline hit an inflation-adjusted $3.08. Yesterday, the White House announced it will tap into the nation's oil reserves to shore up marketplace supply, after the per-barrel price hit $70. But retail prices will likely remain high as refineries in the Gulf — which contribute 10 percent of US refining capacity — slowly come back online [Update: 95% of the Gulf's refining capacity is currently offline]. [Don't forget the people of New Orleans. Instapundit has compiled a list of aid providers.]

Related:
Hurricane Katrina to Send Retail Gas Prices Higher [internal]

While Hurricane Katrina is focusing its lusty, gusty attentions on the Big Easy (Jonno! Where art thou?), the rest of the US will likely feel the ol' girl's effects in the form of higher retail gas prices, according to Forbes. Here in New York, regular unleaded is already a wad of Bazooka gum short of $3.00 in most places, but will likely head higher here and elsewhere due to the closure of an important distribution hub on the Gulf of Mexico. While crude-oil futures hit $70 a barrel today, word that the President might release some of the country's strategic oil reserves eased the market tension somewhat. Next life, we're totally going into commodities, seriously.

Retail Gas Prices Set to Hit New Highs [Forbes]

Related:
Forbes on CAFE Standards: Let the Market Dictate

Big surprise that fat-cappy press, Forbes isn't in favor of imposing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to dictate automakers' fleet-wide gas mileage. This past Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta outlined the government's plan to alter mileage standards for all light trucks sold in the US.

The plan would split the market, requiring the smallest and lightest such vehicles to increase average mileage to 28.4 mpg by 2011, while the largest and heaviest would be pegged at 21.3 mpg. (Those over 8,500 lbs. would be exempt.) Forbes advocates for the ol' supply and demand trick: with gas prices rising, market forces will provide all the incentive automakers need to produce fuel-efficient vehicles, defying critics who say the government's plan doesn't go far enough to conserve fuel. We have to agree with this one, and not because we're free-market fat cats, either. It's just that political solutions always first consider the needs of those who have the most influence on policymakers, and guess who that's not. Yeah, us.

We Don't Need No Stinking CAFE [Forbes]

Related:
Fuel Economy Dot Gov: Bush Administration Proposes Slightly Higher Standards [internal]

With retail margins on gasoline so thin it takes stores full of cheap hot dogs, slushies and lottery tickets to give gas stations any income at all, it's no secret the loss-leading business is open to getting severely messed with. While warehouse stores have been in the gas business for years, the latest corporate retail giant to get involved is Home Depot. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Home Depot is entering the retail gas business, adding pumps to four stores in Nashville, Tenn. later this year. The pumps will likely be a convenience service for customers, particularly contractors, who get to skip a stop after loading up on sheetrock and scads of those yellow plastic power tools. Plus, the chain will likely be able to incorporate "free gas" into its promotions, a particularly potent come-on these days, especially for customers who haul tons of of crap in their V8-powered light trucks. [Thanks to Zerin for the tip.]

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Green Corn? Ethanol's British Thermal Unit Woes [internal]