Can pill for car raise gas mileage?Can a little pill for your car improve fuel efficiency and take the sting out of high gas prices?
At least one Florida company says the answer is a decided yes.
But AAA, the motorist club, says don't be so sure.The MPG-Cap, sold online in packages of 10 pills for $19.95 by
Fuel Freedom International, promises to increase gas mileage up to 14 percent. Independent distributors are promoting the product in the Tampa Bay area, but state and federal officials say consumers should be skeptical when buying it and other such products.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is investigating the company's claims, spokeswoman Sandi Copes said.
"We have had complaints against them," she said.Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency officials say most products that promise big gas savings just don't work.
"We have tested over 100 different devices and additives," EPA spokesman John Millett said. "A little pill can't change the amount of energy in a unit of fuel."
Fuel Freedom International, based near Orlando, stands by its MPG-Cap product and says motorists can generate significant savings on gasoline by dropping the pill into their gas tank every time they fill up.
Fuel Freedom President Randy Ray said the company has millions of satisfied customers worldwide. Once the attorney general's office completes its investigation, he said, it "will see the value of using MPG-Caps to lower emissions and save fuel."
The pill creates a thin coating in the engine's combustion chamber, allowing the fuel to burn more efficiently, the company says on its Web site.
About this time of year, gas prices typically start rising because of increased demand, and products promising higher fuel efficiency begin showing up, largely on the Internet. Regulators and consumer groups say many of the products don't significantly improve gas mileage.
"We do not put much faith in a lot of the products that make all kinds of claims to increase your gas mileage," AAA spokesman Gregg Laskowski said. "These things come out of the woodwork, especially when gasoline prices go higher."
AAA disputes Fuel Freedom's claims.
"One of our clubs tested it. We didn't find any improvement in mileage," Laskowski said of the MPG-Cap.In a test involving one car, AAA said it found no gas mileage improvement while driving at 34 mph. At 65 mph, gas mileage improved by 4 percent, which is below the company's claim of 7 percent to 14 percent, the travel club said.
"Even increasing the amounts of the product did not help," Laskowski said.
Fuel Freedom spokeswoman Melissa Arnoff said AAA's testing method was flawed. AAA drove the car 30 miles, not enough to get accurate test results, she contends.
"You can't get that coating in 30 miles," Arnoff said. "You need to blend through two tanks of gas."
Other companies hawking fuel efficiency products have run into trouble with regulators. Last year, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sued BioPerformance Inc., which said its gas pills and powders could increase fuel efficiency by at least 30 percent.
In January, the company agreed to pay the state $7 million in restitution to customers.
Patrick Davis has sold the MPG-Cap in Tampa for about three months.
"The price of gas is going up," Davis said. "It's getting ridiculous, and we have a solution."
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