The refiners can actually get more Diesel from a certain amount of crude then they can get gasoline.
The primary reason for the price difference is the amount of Federal and State taxes imposed on Diesel fuel.
The tax difference is much less than the price difference where I live, 8 cents vs 50 cents a gallon. Here’s all the info you need:
http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/industry-economics/~/media/Files/Statistics/state-motor-fuel-taxes-report-summary.pdf
In NY State our total fuel tax in January 2014 was just under $.68 a gallon for gas and just under $.74 for diesel according to the American Petroleum Institute,
We are the second highest for gas and the fifth for diesel
@Db4690
We got into Toyotas mainly with their small trucks. That’s what Toyota depends on…boring people buying their boring cars. No surprises, no fuss…but no excitement. Our hearts couldn’t take it.
@dagosa In Spain (2003) gasolina (unleaded regular) was USD 4.25. Gasolino (low sulfur diesel) was USD 2.60. That is closer to 40% difference. Apparently there was no self service and the Spanish words only having one letter and a gender difference I had to be very careful that the attendant understood which fuel I needed. Being a believer in Murphy’s Law I would always visually confirm that they were using the correct pump. Our rental was a brand new Opel Vectra with 12 kilometers on the clock. 2.2L inline 4 turbo diesel 5 speed manual. It was a very nice car with great performance. Do to the 5,500 RPM redline and gasoline powered manners the first time I fueled it I sniffed the cap just to be sure! With 40+ mpg and inexpensive fuel it really helped with expenses.
I think the huge difference in European gas vs diesel taxes are being eliminated because of the higher carbon emissions per gallon for diesel.
I think you are right.@texases. I would like to think hybrids will be embraced by Europe as diesel preference is phased down a little.