Standard unleaded. There should be a sticker inside the fuel flap relevent to your market which will tell you, failing that read your Owners Manual. RON calculations are different between Europe and North America, but there is no need to go for what we call Super Unleaded, it's a waste of money.

 

Thanks. Unfortunately, there is no info on either the manual or inside the fuel compartment.

 

In the owner's manual I got with my 2019 Canadian IONIQ Electric Plus (the plug-in hybrid which shares a manual with the standard hybrid) it's on page F7 in the Introduction section of the manual:

Your new vehicle is designed to use only unleaded fuel having an octane number ((R+M)/2) of 87 (Research Octane Number 91) or higher. (Do not use methanol blended fuels)

Translation: Regular Unleaded

 

Strange, I have a pdf of the 2019 US owners manual and it's on pages F7 & F8, right at the front of the book and listed as such in the Index at the back under the heading 'Fuel'

 

Thanks for the info. I ended up filling up my first thank with Shell 91 from a Top Tier gas station. The 91 does not have ethanol mixed. Not sure if this will make any difference or has any benefit in the long term, or if it is only a waste of money.

 

Ethanol absorbs water, so long term not having it in your fuel tank can only be good for the car,
Also usually the higher grade fuels have cleaning agents that are beneficial to your injectors,
IMO using better fuel is a worthwhile investment,

 

Also usually the higher grade fuels have cleaning agents that are beneficial to your injectors,
IMO using better fuel is a worthwhile investment,

I don't believe it's generally true anymore that premium fuel contains a different additive package than regular. Chevron advertises "Techron" in their fuel, and that seems to imply its in both the regular and premium gasolines.

Even the cheapest stations such as Arco and Costco are using fuel that meets "Top Tier" standards for detergent.

Besides all that, how common is it for anything to fail due to insufficient detergent these days?

There might be some wisdom in getting ethanol-free fuel for a vehicle that doesn't get fresh fuel very often.

Even if there were very long term benefits, how many of us expect to be owning the same vehicle 15 years down the road when these extra precautions could hypothetically begin to pay off? A few of us perhaps.

 

As a tangent, many people don't realize there is no such thing as mid-grade fuel. Fuel trucks have a smaller premium fuel trailer, and a larger trailer with regular fuel. Mid-grade is mixed by the pump with a ratio of 60% regular and 40% premium. The additive package would be a mixture between the 2 grades, though I believe the additives are the same.

I've actually mixed my own fuel to achieve mid-grade before. It's often slightly cheaper to purchase 6 gallons of regular and 4 gallons of premium than to simply purchase 10 gallons of mid-grade. There's a slight convenience charge you pay for having the pump mix it.

 

I am a user of Shell fuels, and here in the UK they have FuelSave Unleaded and V-Power Unleaded. Fuel Save is standard 97RON whereas V-Power is 99RON (Beware, the way RON is calculated differs between Europe and North America).

To clarify my earlier comment, when I said to just use standard unleaded, I meant branded fuel such as Shell, BP, Esso, Texaco etc. Mind you, since a big fuel scandal here about 15 years ago, even the fuel sold by the supermarkets falls into the same categories, with exactly the same RON values, so although I choose not to fill up at Tesco, it would not do my car any harm if I did.

Through the various threads on this forum, it is clear that it is possible to easily find low quality, cheap fuel in some countries, but not here. Our 'cheap' unleaded is about £1.20 per litre (£5.45 per UK gallon = roughly US$5.76 per US gallon). Fuel is very heavily taxed and highly regulated.

 

Consumer protection legislation here in the UK is, as Steel188 has said, highly regulated. It is very common to see the local Trading Standards vehicle sampling fuel on forecourts, particularly at the supermarkets like Asda (part of Walmart until last week). Consequently, if it's advertised as having certain qualities or ingredients, it had better have them or a court date awaits the retailer.

 

The discussion about the use of the different grades of fuels has been going on for years. Generally there are the two sides; one claiming the premium fuel the best to use and the other claiming regular fuel is just fine. This is no scientific study, but I have used regular fuel in all of my vehicles for the last 55 years and have never had an engine failure.

 

Part of the confusion in these discussions is that things change over time. Here's some other "myths" that once held true, but no longer apply due to technological progress:

• Dirty air filter causes poor fuel economy - no longer true since fuel injection and A/F ratio monitoring
• Change motor oil every 2000 miles - advances in oil technology and tighter machining tolerances allow intervals of 8,000 or more miles depending on conditions
• Premium fuel has more detergents - probably no longer true

I'm sure there's tons more, but those immediately come to mind with respect to older folks repeating things that held as true years ago, but no longer apply.

 

My gas mileage on my 2019 Ioniq is much better when I use a top tier, non ethanol gas blend. I get over 50 mpg when I use this blend, and under 50 when I use cheap gas.

 

The difference in energy between the typical 10% ethanol regular and pure gasoline is about 3 to 4%. But whenever I pass through states that offer both at the same pump, the bump in price for gasoline is greater than the improved mileage. While you can typically get gasoline without ethanol in most states at boat docks and airport facilities, the cost is even higher.

 

Did that Rotax engine have a carburetor? And a vented gas tank? Change altitude a lot with consequent rapid pressure and temperature changes? No offense, but that is a very different operating environment than modern cars.

The only way for water to get into the Ioniq fuel system is to add it. Ambient humidity while filling your tank, (especially if you top it off) will add negligible water to the fuel but is the only source I can think of. Have you experienced any symptoms of water contamination from using ethanol gasoline (which is probably over 99% of all gasoline sold in the US)? I've not heard complaints about water in fuel for over 30 years outside of farmers with tanks. Or are you using premium fuel just because?

 

Yes it has twin carburettors and a standard vent system, the fuel tank being propylene doesn’t suffer like a metal tank with condensation, I am meticulous in the fuel used and have found when with no alternative but ethanol added fuel I would see water in the bottom of he
Gascolator,
if I used premium fuel without ethanol then I didn’t, standard practice is to leave the tank full if the aircraft wasn’t being used for awhile,
I concluded the only variable is the ethanol so I avoid It Like the plague unless there isn’t an alternative,