With shale gas booming in the United States, regular gas prices are being driven down to some $3.03 per gallon, which would be the lowest figure in the past four years according to a Bloomberg report. However, if you happen to be driving a Mercedes-Benz, you’re not likely to enjoy the benefits of this new energy development.

The price gap between premium gas used to make high-end/luxury vehicles run and regular gas also happens to be at its widest in the last six years. That means the shale boom isn’t positively affecting the price of premium high-octane gas, so Mercedes drivers aren’t enjoying any new benefits out of shale.

Shale gas can be turned into low-octane gas. So that’s great if you’re driving a more mass-market car like a Chevy sedan or a Toyota. If you’re on a CLA-Class or something else with the Mercedes-Benz badge, then you’re out of luck. Of course, if you can afford such a pricey car, you might not mind the price gap between regular gas and premium gas, but being able to cut back on gas costs is important for mostly anybody these days.

What would be of consolation to Mercedes owners is that the company has been keen on making its cars (and pretty much everything else in its product lineup, from vans to buses to trucks) more fuel-efficient. There’s a lot of technology already put out there by the company, and owners as well as prospective buyers can rest assured that they’re getting a considerable amount of balance as far as efficiency and performance are concerned.

In addition, Mercedes-Benz has been constantly adding to its alternative drive options, including Electric Drive and Natural Gas Drive variants.