RON97 is now RM2.50 (not RM2.40) per liter

Just updated, based on the latest developments. The following text in grey is no longer true.
Well, the title of this post says it all - effective today onwards (until further notice, that is), a liter of RON97 petrol will now cost you RM2.40, up from RM2.30. The previous increase in RON97 was on 1st Dec 2010, not that long ago, from RM2.15 to RM2.30. This was just 1 month after a RM0.05 increase from RM2.10 to RM2.15 on 2nd Nov 2010.

So, looks like for RON97:-
2nd Nov 2010 - RM2.15 per liter
1st Dec 2010 - RM2.30 per liter
5th Jan 2011 - RM2.40 per liter
1st Feb 2011 - RM2.50 per liter (Updated 1 Feb 2011)

Does this trend mean that by first week of February, RON97 will be priced at RM2.45 to RM2.50 per liter? I hope not...!

This increase was reported in the local online news portals, such as The Star : http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/5/nation/7736829&sec=nation

For now, RON95 remains at RM1.90 per liter. Incidentally, it was increased by RM0.05 from RM1.85 on 4th Dec 2010, just 4 days after the increase in RON97 price, as I mentioned in the first paragraph above. Hmm, does this mean that by next week, RON95 prices would go up by RM0.05 to RM1.95 too? Once again, I hope not...!

There used to be around the "Premium" fuel by Shell, known as Shell Vpower. Vpower always retailed for a slightly higher price compared to regular RON97. Hmm, I wonder if they are still selling this, and how much it costs now?

Well, so that's the way petrol prices will be going, regardless of whether RON97 or, to a lesser extent, RON95. After the Government has decided to "withdraw the subsidy later and subject it to a managed float, where the price will be determined by an automatic pricing mechanism". Surprisingly, since floating, the prices have gone only upwards....

How does this affect me? Well, for the time being, not directly affected, as my car runs on RON95 (previously I used RON92 with no ill-effects, so definitely not a problem).

For those who are driving high performance vehicles which require a minimum of RON97 (like a certain species of Honda Civics), I guess they already can afford to purchase their premium cars, so to keep them running and fueled should not be too much of a burden.

For the rest of us, other alternative fuel vehicles include:-

1. Diesel - it may still a little-known fact that a diesel engine are much more powerful and fuel-economical than a petrol engine (some 30%-35%, according to the US Department of Energy. See: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/di_diesels.shtml). Plus, car makers continued refinement of diesel engines have narrowed the gap in terms of performance, noise and smoothness (as well as emissions) compared to petrol engines - a far cry to what diesel-powered cars used to be like just a few years ago! Diesel comes from the ground (oil), but bio-diesel, which comes from vegetable oil or animal fat, can also be used to run your car (possibly with exhaust gas smelling like french fries!). Does kind of make it a renewable source of energy of some sort, compared to standard diesel / petrol.

2. Hybrid Electric - all things being equal, a small engine will use less fuel than a large engine. One of the ways to make up for the loss in cubic-centimeters (and hence, horsepower / torque) is to supplement the engine with an electric motor. Available now in Malaysia are the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and Honda Insight (from most expensive to cheapest). All of the hybrid vehicles that I see so far are Petrol + Electric, which makes me wonder how come no one has put together a Diesel + Electric hybrid vehicle, which would run on even much less $$$!

3. CNG / LPG - Compressed Natural Gass or less commonly, Liquified Petroleum Gas (also known as "Autogas"), this form of fuel became popular initially when the prices of petrol started to shoot up after the reduction of government subsidies. There are available conversion kits that allow your car to run on CNG, at the expense of some boot space and also a loss in power (compared to if you were using petrol). Unfortunately, CNG refueling stations are still a rare sight in this country, as prior to this, the main users of CNG were taxis. I believe CNG was only RM0.68 per liter - anyone know the current price?

4. Fully Electric vehicles and Hydrogen-powered vehicles - still far, far away over the horizon in terms of technical support as well as refueling / recharging infrastructure, as far as Malaysia is concerned. I just wonder, since over here, road tax is based on the engine capacity of the Internal Combustion Engine (example, road tax for a Honda Civic Hybrid with a 1.3 liter ICE costs the same as that of a Perodua Myvi, also with a 1.3 liter ICE), what about a Fully Electric vehicle with absolutely no real "Engine"? :)

5. Solar Power - Anyone in Malaysia can tell you that we live here in the Land of Eternal Summer, so a Solar Powered vehicle would be very effective here (unless it was rainy season, of course). Other than those funny shaped vehicles that university students keep building and using to break new records, I don't see any ready solar powered vehicles in the pipeline from any of the car manufacturers.

Well, looking at the way things are going, the next car that I change to would probably be a hybrid vehicle (once the technology seems stable enough), or perhaps a diesel. I wouldn't say that I've given up on petrol fuel - just that with changing times and advancements in technology, alternative powered vehicles are now beginning to appeal more to the masses....


UPDATE [1st February 2011, 6.38pm] : RON97 is now up RM0.10 to RM.2.50 per liter! See http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/1/nation/7913991&sec=nation