Survey reveals SA motorists' attitude to fuel

SA motorists could do themselves, and their cars, a favour by becoming more fuel savvy.
 
A survey conducted by BP Ultimate, found that most South Africans care very little about the fuel they put into their cars (in all likelihood their second biggest investment after a home).
 
Over 2 000 motorists across the country from various backgrounds, were polled on their knowledge of the fuel price, differences between fuel grades and what benefits particular fuels offered.
 
Government sets the price of fuel in SA and all service stations are obliged to charge the same price for petrol, while diesel trades in a band – varying between 10c and 50c a litre – depending on service station and different geographical locations.
 
Yet most unleaded users polled in the BP Ultimate survey thought they were paying more than the actual price per litre, and at least 20 per cent of diesel users had no idea how much they were paying.
 
Unlike petrol, diesel isn’t regulated in SA. Diesel 50ppm is slightly more expensive than diesel 500ppm, because of the more complex desulphurisation process.
 
Nearly half of all the drivers polled could not tell the difference between unleaded 93 and 95 octane fuels or diesel 50ppm and 500ppm. They also weren’t sure about what lead replacement petrol is.
 
Interestingly only 48 per cent of the taxi drivers polled – many of whom fill up a few times a day – know the difference between fuel grades. And less than 10 per cent of all motorists have any idea when it comes to specific benefits derived from various fuel grades.
 
The difference between diesel 50ppm and 500ppm is that it is ten times cleaner with only 50 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur compared to the maximum level of 500ppm allowed by the SA government. Even though one has to pay slightly more for the cleaner diesel, it saves money in the long run by extending a car’s engine life and service intervals.
While consumers at the coast currently pay R7,81 a litre for unleaded 95 – motorists in Gauteng pay 23c more per litre, because the product has to be transported inland from the coastal refineries. The levy is also dependent on inland demand, which is government controlled.
This higher octane fuel is targeted at mainly high performance vehicles which are designed to run exclusively on higher octane fuels, such as Volkswagen’s Golf 5 and the BMW M-series.
Over 83 per cent polled agreed that fuel quality is an important component in determining the overall performance and efficiency of a vehicle and 55% strongly believe that a particular brand of fuel plays an important part.
When using high quality performance fuels, such as BP Ultimate it enables vehicles to run more efficiently, enabling improved combustion quality thus reducing fuel consumption and lowering emissions. Independent tests show that the fuel economy benefit of BP Ultimate Unleaded can be up to 25km more per tank and up to 36km extra when using BP Ultimate Diesel, compared to ordinary fuels.
 
Also interesting to note, in previous studies motorists tended to rate performance much higher in terms of importance than the environment, but in the recent BP Ultimate poll, it was just the opposite. More than 79% now feel strongly about the role fuel quality plays in helping to protect the environment, which can be attributed to the increased awareness around global warming and other ‘green’ causes in the media worldwide.
 
Convenience and location are still the main drivers when it comes to selecting a service station with 31 per cent of the votes, followed by ‘type of fuel brand’ at 21 per cent and ‘quality of service’ coming in at third place.

For current petrol pump prices and acceptable diesel pump prices, visit www.sapia.co.za