Posted on 12/15/2006 1:30:09 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Seventeen oil companies and gasoline service stations have been named in a class-action suit accusing them of overcharging customers at the pump by failing to compensate for changes in gasoline volumes when temperatures rise.
The consumer fraud suit contends that oil companies fail to take into account the fact that gasoline expands when the temperature exceeds 60 degrees. Therefore, the suit says, consumers get less energy for each gallon they buy.
The suit was filed Wednesday by a small number of truck drivers and motorists in California.
According to Public Citizen, a consumer association, the oil industry has resisted installing equipment that can adjust gasoline volumes delivered at the pump when temperatures change. While the difference amounts to pennies per gallon, Public Citizen estimates that oil companies end up overcharging consumers by more than $2 billion each year.
The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s largest trade group, has said that changing the existing metering systems would be too costly while benefits to consumers would be small.
The companies named in the suit include Chevron, 7-Eleven, Valero and Wal-Mart Stores.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Suppose we have a gallon of gas at 60 degF. What would the change in volume be at 90 degF?
According to the equations at the site, the volumetric difference would be..... (drum roll, please)
0.016 gallons.
In terms of mass of gasoline delivered, with 90 degree gas, you're getting about 98.4% as much gasoline mass as with 60 degrees.
Assume $2.50 per gallon, and a 20 gallon fill-up, so $50 total.
To get the same mass of gasoline at 90 degrees, you'd need to pump 20.323 gallons of gas, and it would cost you about 80 cents more.
So, basically, we're talking a price differential of 80 cents/tank between hot and cold temperatures.
Note that it is the gasoline temperature that's at issue here: the temperature outside will undoubtedly be different from that of the gasoline, which is stored in underground tanks.
How much does a BELOW-GROUND (and below-concrete, usually) tank vary temperature-wise, anyway?
If it weren't sold by the gallon, they might have a point. What do they want price per BTU?
Additionally, most gasoline is sold from ground tanks, so the temperature doesn't very that much.
Finally, the fuel companies should counter sue, saying that they based the price on warm fuel and forgot to compensate the price when it got colder.
Yeah, I thought about that after I posted it. But CA is where they're suing, so even below ground, the temp should remain fairly consistent, wouldn't you think?
I'm in Wisconsin. It can easily hit 100 in the summer, and -30 in the winters.
Hey! I'd better get a piece of that class-action! ;)
Really, I think this is among the silliest lawsuits I've seen in a while. The difference in volume has to be miniscule in normal conditions.
I read something about this months ago. It was stupid then, and it's stupid now. Gasoline is stored in underground tanks, and adding the cooling caused by evaporation, gas is almost always cooler than 60 degrees. Ever spill gas on your hand when filling up? Cold, ain't it?
The only people who might (might) have a real complaint would be the independent station owners who get their tanks filled from tanker trucks which have been sitting in the hot sun. When the warm gas goes into the underground tanks, there might (might) be some shrinkage. I wouldn't know, but it sounds logical.
That is a myth. The pump always draws from the bottom of the tank.
Gasoline and water do not mix, water is heavier and so is always under the gasoline.
The intake pipe is always a few inches off the bottom, and so cannot draw water into the pump.
It is common to put some water in the bottom of the tank as a "cushion". (actually it is to take up space so more of the gasoline can be pumped out.)
The pump still does not draw any water up the pipe.
But 12 feet underground, it's probably never more than a few degrees different ... and that's what determines the temperature of the gas.
The fuel is being pumped up from underground tanks.
The ambient air temperature may change markedly, but the ambinet temperature of soil six feet down changes only very slowly, if at all.
Not enough to significantly change the volume of a gallon of gasoline within a matter of a few minutes.
Now after the tank is filled, the volume WILL expand, sometimes enough so that fuel will run out out of the fill spout. That is why the fuel stations tell you not to "top off" a tank after the automatic fuel stop on the nozzle trips off. Sitting for even just a few minutes in hot sun, the car tank will absorb enough heat to significantly expand the volume of the gasoline. If you pay and go, getting out on the road, the fuel will be burned out of the tank quickly enough so expansion is not a problem.
But if you fill first, then go in to sit down to lunch, the gasoline could be expanded that much.
I don't know if this negatively affects the sensors in the engine controls or not. It could set off the "check engine" light.
Just what you need, a $60 charge to get the light turned off down at your "friendly" auto service. And really, nothing was wrong.
"We never counted this penny as income because it was never collected by the company at wholesale; it was simply a 'pennysworth' that disappeared..."
Why did the movie "Office Space" just pop into my head? LOL!
I know...I'm just trying to find a way to get a piece of the CA action, using their lame reasoning. ;)
Give this man a cigar. Of course, its all easy money for the lawyers.
It's like the sticker on a ladder that says, "don't use on ice".
Thanks to both of you!
I'm filing suit on behalf of oil companies against consumers who are stealing gasoline when the temperature is below 60 degrees.
In the two stations I worked in many years ago, we would not only stick (measure) the tanks every night, but we'd put water-detecting material on the bottom 5 inches or so of the stick to check for water. Over time, condensation will build a small amount of water at the bottom of the tank. We never had more than an inch that I can remember, and it was below the pump intake.
Isn't the exterior of these tanks ventilated by outside air?
"Grassley said in order to make use of the coupons, many times consumers are forced to spend more money with the company that ripped them off in the first place. Additionally, the terms under which the coupons can be used are often so restrictive that they're basically useless. In contrast, the lawyers get paid in cash. So, he asked, "If coupons are good enough for the clients, why aren't the lawyers paid in coupons, too?" Witnesses have testified at previous congressional hearings that the coupons allow the class lawyers to claim that a settlement is worth much more than it is to claim higher attorneys fees."
Also, the additives put in the gas can change it's energy per unit volume a lot more than the heat expansion.
You will get worse mileage when they add ethanol.
Also, contrary to some people's opinion, "high-octane" gas has less energy per unit as well.
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