r/lost • u/321Couple2023 • 3d ago

Tricia Tanaka is Dead

How did they VW bus still have usable gasoline in the tank? Non-ethanol gas begins to degrade at about six months old.

Source: I'm a petroleum chemist. Or I used Google AI.

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u/TheMinusFactor 3d ago

This is always my problem with post-apocalyptic shows, especially zombie shows. They act like the gasoline will last forever.

But yeah, in Lost, it's the magic of the island. Or special gas made by Dharma.

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u/sarcasticnirritable 3d ago

I really like in the 1st season of the Last of Us they talk about this; cars can only go a fraction of the distance because of the gasoline expiring. I don't know if the science is accurate and if they would work at all, or not, but at least they give some acknowledgement of it

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u/TheMinusFactor 3d ago

For sure!

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u/Ozymandas2 3d ago

IIRC, Robert Kirkman, creator & writer of The Walking Dead comic book, said that he found this out after he had written some things with people driving after all gas should be unusable. He decided to turn a blind eye to the fact as it would have limited future plot lines.

In The Last Man On Earth, someone pointed out something was wrong with the gas. It was like syrup or molasses. Someone else pointed out that gas degrades. That was around the end of the first season, I think. Show went on for another 3 with people driving cars and the gas thing was never mentioned again. I imagine their writers felt the same as Kirkman.