A good example: E10 and E85 both are cheaper at the pump than clear gas.
Rhetorical question: Why would an additive based, blended, gasoline that is more difficult to store and transport and requires mixing be cheaper?
As a consequence, you can't find clear gas in my neck of the woods anywhere. A few years ago, E10 was only required a couple of months out the year. Now you can't find clear gas at all at any time of the year. There was one hold out gas station near me but the owner finally gave in. He couldn't compete.
So, the market forces have chosen the “cheapest” solution... even though it is not the cheapest accounting for all costs.
Not in New York State, they're not. But for the last year or so, I can't find real gas, either. I don't think the market had a thing to do with that. My mileage dropped from 22mpg to 18mpg when the last station in my area stopped selling the good stuff.
Perhaps the wholesale market chose the cheapest solution under pressure from refiners who had to get rid of the corn-stuff. It certainly wasn't consumer-driven in these parts.
Commodity price ($/gal)
(Wednesday)
Regular gasoline 2.77
Ethanol 2.23