Average price of diesel drops below premium gas
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Feb 20th 2009 at 3:59PM 
The diesel engine has never really gotten a fair shake here in the United States, for a variety of reasons. Beyond the biggest of consumer-grade pickup trucks, the majority of diesel engines offered here in the U.S. have been below par, souring many drivers on the notion that an oil-burner can work as everyday transportation. As evidenced by our recent review of the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, however, those concerns are ancient history with today's crop of diesel-powered passenger vehicles.
So, what's holding American drivers back from demanding modern clean diesels? There are a few problems, and the high cost of diesel fuel has been one major deterrent. Perhaps that pricing disparity will also be a thing of the past, as the most recent national polling data shows that the average gallon of diesel fuel costs just under that of premium gasoline (218.6 pennies per gallon of diesel versus 219.8 for premium). The best news is that there is more potential energy in each gallon of diesel, making a full tank last longer and make more power than a comparable tank of gasoline. So, is it finally time to reconsider diesel?
[Source: EIA via The Car Connection]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
AirRaid 4:04PM (2/20/2009)
Somehow, I don't think this will change anyone's preference.
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BigMcLargeHuge 4:35PM (2/20/2009)
No, but driving a 335d or X5d might.
Very different experience from driving the petrol version of the same car, and a fair bit better, IMO.
James 8:50PM (2/20/2009)
In my neck of the woods (east of LA County), diesel is slightly below or at par to regular...
James 8:52PM (2/20/2009)
"In my neck of the woods (east of LA County), diesel is slightly below or at par to regular..."
In price that is...
Mark K. 4:07PM (2/20/2009)
No, no, no. Diesels still suck. Diesel is the worst thing that happened to the mankind ever, especially in US. Diesel engine is so bad, you don't ever ever want to buy one.
Now if you'll excuse me - I need to go to fill up my Jetta TDI with a diesel that is still cheap because nobody fills up with diesel.
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AirRaid 4:12PM (2/20/2009)
Have fun with your dirty, dirty, diesel.
Jake B 4:23PM (2/20/2009)
Time for everyone to go buy a heavy duty diesel truck. Add a bunch of power adders for 1250+ ft/lbs of torque!
Alex 4:11PM (2/20/2009)
I don't get why diesel costs more here? When I was living in Italy it was less than gas plus if I'm not mistaken its less refined than gas and therefore in theory should cost less? Feel free to school me on this if you know.
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Cornholio 4:17PM (2/20/2009)
I believe it's taxed differently than gas in the US. Of course, that means we, as a nation, could adjust the tax on gas vs diesel to make oil burners more favorable.
Having driven numerous diesel powered cars/vans in EU, the latest crop is wonderful. I'd love to have a diesel in a smaller SUV - lots of torque for towing, and decent highway mileage. I'd buy a diesel commuter car too, if there were more choices beyond VeDub. Maybe someday....
abcd 4:19PM (2/20/2009)
Alex you really don't know this, in europe petrol is much higher taxed than diesel and that's the reason why it's cheaper, diesel without taxes is more expensive than petrol in Europe .
abcd 4:26PM (2/20/2009)
For example tax rates in Germany are 0.65 euro per litre of petrol and only 0.47 per litre of diesel. In may opinion this is wrong politic to be more fabourable to diesels, free market like in US is a lot better.
abcd 4:34PM (2/20/2009)
I rather want free prizes of petrol and diesel regulated by market like in US becouse higher economy of diesels is seeming, here is what scientist have to say:
"When evaluating a diesel vehicle’s impact on oil dependence, consumers should adjust the listed fuel economy downward about 20 percent before comparing it with a gasoline vehicle. For heat-trapping gas emissions, a diesel vehicle's fuel economy should be adjusted downward about 15 percent."
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/technologies_and_fuels/gasoline_and_diesel/the-diesel-dilemma-diesels.html
Markus 4:00AM (2/21/2009)
While it's true that the taxation favors diesels in Europe, the system in the US is far from a free market as well. In the US, taxes might be the same for both fuel types but emissions standards were specifically designed to favor gasoline engines and keep European and Japanese diesel engines out of the US market.
It's, as always, lobbying and government steering. There is no such thing as a free market when the auto industry in general is concerned, not in Europe, not in the US, and not in Japan.
montoym 2:29AM (2/23/2009)
@cornholio:
It's true that in the US diesl is taxed differently than gas. However,nationally, that difference is only 6cents/gal. The national tax rate for gasoline is 18.4cents/gal while the tax for diesel is 24.4cents/gal. State taxes change things, but since we are looking at national prices, I'll stick with that.
For the record though, the average state taxes for gas and diesel are within 1cent/gal. of each other/
chconline 4:12PM (2/20/2009)
Here in Calgary, diesel is quite a bit cheaper than regular gas...
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David Roy 4:20PM (2/20/2009)
Why does diesel cost more ?
Greater worldwide demand and taxes. Especially taxes.
I believe Europe taxes diesel less than gas while the US does the reverse.
In Canada, we just tax the &^&%$#% out of both
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jim 4:36PM (2/20/2009)
Why is diesel more? Worldwide demand for diesel and other mid range distillates is growing faster than gasoline/petrol. When a barrel of oil is distilled the amount and type of products manufactured is pretty stable. i.e. a barrel of high grade light crude will produce approximately 22 gallons of gasoline, 17 gallons of mid weight distillates which include diesel, home heating oil, jet fuel, kerosene and a couple of things I'm forgetting. The rest of the barrel is light distillates such as butane, some chemicals and heavy distillates like asphalt. A high tech refinery can vary the out a bit but not much.
What's happening in the US is a couple of things demand for mid range distillates is growing even as demand for gasoline moderates or falls and the change over to low sulfur diesel caused a refining shortage and higher quality crude. For a long time Europe has been exporting gasoline to the US, mostly to the northeast as it is left over from the production of diesel.
Matt B 4:31PM (2/20/2009)
About *(&(&*ing time! I mean, I was still making out better even when diesel was $4.95 a gallon, since I get 53MPG, but this is welcome news.
I love my diesel- 2002 Jetta. Very little smell, awesome MPGs, and reliable as hell. I've put 70,000 miles on it in two and a half years (its now at 140,000) and I've only had to replace one engine part (just a small valve). Of course, I had to get new tires and other standard car parts, but this thing just keeps on ticking. Best purchase I ever made.
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Dee 4:38PM (2/20/2009)
A modern diesel engine is much better to drive than the average petrol engine in my opinion. My guess would be that in the US they do not offer the current generation of diesel engines in passenger vehicles due to perception and demand?
Here in NZ diesel is becoming popular and the choice is growing all the time. Last year the biggest selling diesel pasenger vehicle was the Hyundai Santa Fe which is what im driving at the moment and i love it. I don't believe it is offered in the States?
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Chris 4:39PM (2/20/2009)
Doesn't matter.
The only comparison is to regular gas. My premium only vehicles all run fine on regular gas. Now I do use premium in my bike but it is 13:1 compression and its damn silly for the computer to try and prevent premature detonation without it.
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