Web sites steer drivers to cheapest gas

By Ana Campoy, The Wall Street Journal

Published May 8, 2008 at 10:54 a.m.

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Before Akshay Dodeja stopped to fill up the gas tank of his Acura Integra, the 22-year- old Portland, Ore., computer-engineering student checked his cell phone.

There, he found the cheapest gas from a list of 10 stations in the area. In the end, he paid $3.63 a gallon, compared with the $3.80 that the most expensive station was charging.

Getting the best deal on gasoline used to be a matter of comparing prices posted at stations on opposite street corners. But with fuel taking a bigger bite out of budgets, some drivers are obsessed with finding the best possible price in a wider geographic area. And fueling that obsession is technology.

Web sites that compare gas prices at different stations have been around for years, but the offerings are becoming more sophisticated.

In addition to gas prices delivered to cell phones, some Web sites offer fuel-consumption calculators, scout out sources of alternative fuels and even explore mass-transit options.

For some, technology helps them get more mileage out of their money.

Gasoline prices are up 16 percent this year, to $3.61 last week, or about 18 percent higher than a year ago.

Analysts are suggesting the price could hit $4 before the summer driving season is over.

It was in a Facebook discussion group that Dodeja first learned about a free gas-price search program made by Mobio Networks Inc., a Cupertino, Calif., company that creates mobile-phone applications. He downloaded the application onto his phone, punched in his postal code and got prices at nearby gas stations compiled by GasPriceWatch.com. It even provides a map to make finding the stations easier.

Dodeja says he likes to know prices at five to 10 stations before he fills up. He says the current level of gas prices is "definitely not great for the economy and for consumers, and it seems like it keeps going higher and higher."

Other applications are called widgets - a continually updated tool on a user's computer that monitors local gas prices without requiring a visit to a separate Web page.

One such widget, available free from Automotive.com, a Web site operated by Source Interlink Media Automotive Digital, has been downloaded thousands of times in the past year, says the company's chief executive, Josh Speyer.

Independent designers Jason Barry and Eben Eliason created a free gas price widget exclusively for Apple Inc. computers.

The application, available at interdimensionmedia.com, allows users to plug in their car mileage, gas-tank size and fuel level. The widget then analyzes how much farther a driver can travel on the remaining fuel and how much it will cost to fill up.

It also compares the price at a particular gas station with the average price in the area to help drivers decide whether it's worth driving a few extra miles for the savings.

On the Web, fuel calculators are available for both Mac and PC users - one of them through MapQuest's gas-price site at gasprices.mapquest.com. Christian Dwyer, MapQuest Inc. senior vice president and general manager, said he recently used it to figure out that at about $600, he'd rather fly his family to San Diego from Denver this summer than pay $400 to drive there in his Honda Pilot.

Dwyer is thinking of adding an online tool that would help travelers build a gasoline-station itinerary for their road trips based on price levels.

Tank tactics

Some technology that helps drivers save on fuel costs:

* Web sites, cell-phone programs and other applications that list gasoline prices at area stations.

* Calculators to determine overall consumption costs.

* Web sites that let users compare the fuel economy of various models of cars.

* A Web site that gives mass-transit options.

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