Gas prices have skyrocketed by almost a third since last year, and the devices and gimmicks designed to improve gas mileage have been in hot pursuit.
But consumer advocates warn hard-hit drivers that the air intake add-ons and fuel additives may not be the cure they?re looking for.
“It reminds me of the old snake oil advertising,” said Angie Barnett, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland. “You buy one potion and it?ll cure everything. It?s the same kind of promises. Consumers want a quick fix.”
Gas prices hit a record high Wednesday, reaching $4.11 per gallon nationally. In the Baltimore area, the price of a gallon of regular gas has held at $4.024 for the past month.
Better Business Bureaus across the country have received complaints and begun investigating the makers of the devices and additives, Barnett said. In most cases, the bureaus have found them to be too good to be true.
“They have not found any that meet up to their advertising promises,” Barnett said. “[Bureaus] are just advising people to stay away from them because we have no significant data to prove that any of them work.”
Federal watchdogs have also checked into mileage-boosters, with similar results.
“The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has tested hundreds of these products,” said Laura DeMartino, a Federal Trade Commission attorney. “Even for the few that worked, the gas savings was so small it didn?t justify the price.”
One of those products is the Vortec Cyclone, produced by North Carolina-based Automotive Research Laboratory LLC. The $40 device fits inside a car’s air intake hose where a finer gas-air mix, which burns more efficiently.
Dan Baxley, one of the company?s founding partners, said sales have doubled in the past year. Some users have reported as much as a six-mile per gallon increase, he said, though most see an improvement of just a mile or two per gallon.
That’senough of a boost for Kevin Shaw, vice-president of development for the Michigan-based Coffee Beanery. Shaw tested the device on four vehicles; two saw an improvement of two miles per gallon, one car’s fuel efficiency rose by a mile per gallon, and the fourth was not improved.
Shaw said the incremental increases may still save the company $1,400 a year per vehicle in fuel expenses.
“I have nine [devices] on order right now,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
