Oil companies are urged to introduce supply of unleaded petrol of a lower octane number (95) for the choice of motorists in Hong Kong.
At present, only a more costly petrol of octane number 98 is available for supply in the market.
The Consumer Council has put forward the recommendation for consideration of oil companies to provide consumers with wider choices in petrol octane number.
This followed a Council's recent survey which showed that about 61% of car models (337 out of 550 models) being marketed in Hong Kong could use, for optimal efficiency, petrol of octane number 95.
Most European or Japanese cars of wide popularity here are in fact required to use only 95-octane petrol. Some vehicles including vans require petrol as low as 88 to 93 in octane number.
The models that need to use 98-octane petrol are mainly high-end sports cars.
The survey data was based on the recommended octane number requirement of car models marketed by 24 major car importers of 32 brands in total.
The case for the introduction of 95-octane petrol in Hong Kong is overwhelming.
Worldwide, petrol stations in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the Mainland have in supply simultaneously two or even three unleaded petrols of different octane numbers.
In Singapore, for instance, statistics have shown that sales of 92- and 95-octane unleaded petrols jumped by 13% and 14% respectively in 2008 accounting for 8.9% and 55.6% of total sales, while 98-Octane unleaded petrol shrank by 18% representing only 35.5% of total sales.
In the European Union, 85% of total sales in 2007 were petrol of octane number 95.
According to overseas media reports, in the United States about 75% of unleaded gasoline sales is that of 92-octane, and in Japan about 85% of sales are 89- and 90-octane petrols.
The oil companies, in response to the Council's call to supply unleaded petrol of octane number 95 in addition to the existing 98-octane petrol only, have responded positively, their main concern being one of economic viability - whether or not there is sufficient public support and market demand.
Another major hurdle cited by oil companies was the lack of additional storage space due to the limited area of the filling stations.
The Consumer Council, however, is convinced that motorists should have the benefit of choice of a cheaper petrol in the light of its survey findings.
Consumers are advised that in the opinion of experts, using petrol of the minimum octane number as recommended by the car makers is sufficient - even when driving on steep slopes or under heavy loading for a long period.
Contrary to common belief, using petrol of octane number higher than the recommended minimum requirement does not enhance the performance of the cars. In other words, you pay more for nothing.
In Singapore and Taiwan, the difference in retail price between 95-octane and 98-octane petrols was found to be 4% to 5%. This may seem like a small percentage but over the long run, the difference in actual payment could be significant.
To solve the storage space problem, the Council suggests oil companies to consider using one of the two storage tanks presently reserved for use for 98-octane petrol to service 95-octane petrol.
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