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I'm trying to figure out the difference in fuel costs between unleaded gas and diesel in the Pacific Northwest. One part of trying to decide how to power a boat should take into account the price difference for these fuels. There are lots of other variables--but I am curious if anyone knows the typical differential between gas and diesel out West? I read an article the other day stating that diesel is actually cheaper than unleaded fuel in Europe (and more popular in small cars).
But apparently in the US there is an additional tax on diesel (above the tax on unleaded) of about $.08 per gallon since the Reagan years and continuing for the foreseeable future. So, on average, is diesel $.50 more per gallon? I know right now the differential is more like $.75. But I am curious if anyone knows what the average differential has been over the last few years, or if anyone has followed this closely. anyone have thoughts to share?

Cheers,
Mike

The Past year the price has been about $0.80. Prior to that for about 7 years it was right at the price of Premium. The Oil Companies found out that the can keep the price up by sellingthere excess overseas so there is always Just enough product to go around. Businesses are the big users of Diesel and they are kinda happy that it has stabilized for now. My two cents.

Where I buy offroad diesel on the water ( LaConner Wa) it is usually .35-.50¢ cheaper than the 87 octane non ethanol gas they offer. To be fair though that includes no road tax on the diesel, so theoretically it is only .23-38¢ cheaper. It is nice not having to save receipts to send in to get the road tax back! That being said my next boat will have outboards as I want a flat back deck so it is the only logical choice in the size of boat I want. Probably the only way I would own another diesel boat would be if I was retired and it was a larger Trawler type vessel with a true straight shaft inboard configuration. High torque diesels and outdrives just don't go well together.

Retail right now for 87 is $3.19 - 3.25. Diesel is $3.80 to 3.85. In the good old days diesel was cheaper than gas. More recently it's at a premium price or more. Offroad is around $3.27...that was my price yesterday. I've been running a diesel boat for 5 years. Sometimes it's been cheaper than gas...sometimes like now, it's about the same. The difference in fuel burn and range makes it worth it to me at least for now.

wish my 225 Honda was diesel.....

Hyundai is coming out with a 200hp diesel outboard soon...

Hyunda, you can make fun of it if you will, has figured out the car business and certainly knows diesels with its heavy equipment.

Chtucker wrote:Hyundai is coming out with a 200hp diesel outboard soon...

Hyunda, you can make fun of it if you will, has figured out the car business and certainly knows diesels with its heavy equipment.

At around $34,000 I will pass on that

I guess I forgot to ask the price

That's the problem is the new diesels are so dang expensive (to meet EPA regs) and I don't think it's a viable option for most of us unless you've got a pile of cash burning a hole in your pocket or you're a commie and can put enough hours on one.

To really figure out what you want to power your boat with you need to look at fuel cost, fuel economy, maintenance costs and installed cost. The challenge is finding boats that have been configured closely enough to get useful fuel economy numbers to give an apples to apples comparison. For instance I've seen numbers from folks with 26-28 foot boats with diesels that seem to just sip fuel that makes them very attractive. But then you look deeper and see that they are cruising at 18-20 knots and wot isn't much faster. Boats with twin 175-225 o/b's are burning more fuel, but they are cruising in the high 20's to low 30's with wot at 40 knots and change. For my use the 30 vs 20 knot cruise equates into several more hours of fishing per day.

To me diesel only starts making sense in 30' and larger boats. Twin o/b's on an extended transom make for a nice large fishing deck, manuverabilty and so long as you don't go nuts on hp reosonable economy. Not to mention no large holes in the transom for an outdrive.