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Gas Additives: Truth or Fiction?

by John J. Fanning

As gasoline prices increase beyond the $3 per gallon mark, consumers are starting to look for any method available that can help them save money at the pump. For some Americans, the rise in gas prices has forced them to make hard decisions on what to give up in their lives in order to fuel their car each week.

With concerns increasing as gas prices rise, more than a few charlatans and con-artists have come forward offering products that they promise will save consumers money by increasing fuel mileage from 15 to as much as 50 percent. Desperate Americans have been willing to shell out good money for these products in the hope of saving a few bucks, only to find themselves victims of a scam that intentionally targets the most vulnerable in a greedy effort to exploit those hurt the most by rising gas prices.

To begin any story about gasoline additives and their value to consumers, it is probably best to remind everyone that the gasoline business is competitive. There are multiple gasoline companies out there and each one wants you to buy their brand of gasoline. With this in mind, it is important to remind consumers that one of the best ways a gasoline company can attract more customers is by formulating their brand of gasoline to increase gasoline mileage. In fact, many gasoline producers do just that. It is a fact that you may increase your gasoline mileage by selecting a particular brand or increasing the grade of gasoline you use in your car. But the degree of savings you realize will depend upon a number of things, such as whether you are driving in the city or on the highway, the type of car you are driving and the manner in which you drive.

The first rule of gasoline additives for all consumers to understand is that gasoline additives have pretty much always been offered - right at the gas pump. And if someone is interested in finding ways to increase their gas mileage through additives, increasing the grade of gasoline you use is a pretty good first-step.

When it comes to third-party gasoline additives, independent testing does confirm that drivers can increase gas mileage. But the big question that has surrounded gas additives from the very first is, "at what cost"?

Let's suppose that you purchase a gas additive that increases your gas mileage by 30%. And let's suppose that before your use of the additive, you were getting 17 miles to the gallon. That means that after the additive, you are getting a little over 22 miles to the gallon or 5 miles more per gallon. Now suppose you are paying $2.90 per gallon for gas and your car has a 20 gallon gas tank. What all this means is that you can increase your gas mileage by a little more than 100 miles per fill-up for a savings of around $17.00 per tank of gasoline.

That $17.00 represents a pretty significant savings for folks who may be filling up their tanks every week. And that $17.00 in potential savings is what is spurring the growth of gasoline additives that are of dubious efficacy.

Take for example, MPG-Caps, a new product that is being marketed by Fuel Freedom International, a marketing company located in Virginia, or Florida, or Arizona, or, well, frankly we could never really pin down where they were from. We did a lot of searching to learn about the company and the product and we only learned that they seem to be connected with at least a half-dozen other companies or company names out there. Fuel Freedom is actually marketing distributors for the MPG-Caps that, according to an advertisement of theirs sent by spammed fax, will save you 20 to 30 percent at the pump and "knock out 90% of the pollution on the planet".

Wow! Apparently we can end global warming and still keep our Hummers!

MPG-Caps are designed to retail for around $20 for a package of 10 capsules. According to instructions, you initially add 2 capsules to your gas tank and then 1 capsule each time you fill your tank.

ABC television got interested in this product and apparently tried to find out more. AAA, the automotive association actually put the product to test and found that when following the manufacturers instructions, there was no measurable increase in gasoline mileage in their test vehicle. When they contacted the company, they were advised to "increase the dosage", so AAA doubled the recommended dosage to 4 capsules and still recorded no change in mileage in city driving and just a 4% increase in mileage with highway driving.

Remember the math we did a little earlier? In order for the driver of the car we used in that example to break even following the purchase of MPG-Caps - assuming they followed the recommended dosage for those caps - he or she would have to increase their mileage by around 4% to break even.

The MPG-Caps advertising make a point of stating they are "EPA Tested and Registered". For a lot of people they might think that this means the EPA endorses this product. They might think that the product was tested to prove it worked in saving consumers at the gas pump. In fact, all gasoline additives must be tested and registered with the EPA, but only to ascertain that they will not add to pollution coming from vehicles or damage pollution control devices. EPA does not "certify" or "endorse" any products from any manufacturers.

It is a terrible shame that when things get really tough for some Americans, there are always a few slime balls ready to step up and make things even worse for them. I hope that after reading this, at least a few of our readers will look a little closer at the companies promising remarkable savings at the gas pump and do a little math before shelling over hard earned money to something that is nothing more than a money making scheme.

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