"Popular wisdom" aside, it's not just because of the state's particularly stringent gasoline formulation rules, but because of price manipulation.
Originally shared by +Boing Boing:
California's rising gas prices result from a grossly manipulated fuel marketplace http://boingboing.net/2015/07/20/californias-rapidly-rising-g.html
55 view(s)
By my calculation fuel here (UK) is the equivalent to Approx $6.70, which I believe is mostly due to the higher taxes on fuel. The UK can bear this (amid the wailing) because we are a smaller and more dense country – Americans seem to think nothing of the sort of drive that we would think not worth it if there wasn’t at least one night away.
What made me comment was 2 things –
1) Diesel is currently more expensive than petrol, by ~3 cents a litre (approx 10c US gal), though it was the other way round until about 2011/12.
2) A garage that charged different prices for card and cash would go out of business (as would any shop that didn’t show VAT [sales tax] on the ticket)
We do 24 hour garages where you serve yourself and pay at pump. I know some garages that don’t have any human salespoint. This would be impossible without Chip and Pin (Seriously America, its the 21st century)