In gasoline giant Chevron's quest to obtain more market share, it has bedazzled us with a series of bizarre commercials starring an Albert Einstein lookalike, to tell us the wonders of a mysterious new additive:
Techron.
We watch, and we accept, and we do not question. But what really is this fancily-named magical additive? According to Chevron's technical library, deep within Chevron.com:
Techron®, the special ingredient in all Chevron gasolines, makes them unbeatable at helping your car perform at its best and with the lowest possible emissions. Virtually every car on the road will give its best possible performance and lowest possible emissions using Chevron gasolines with Techron®.
Very, very vague. In fact, most of Chevron's website likes to talk about how great Techron is, but won't actually say what it is. However, through patent information it is revealed to be a type of polyether amine, to be used in gasolines to maintain engine cleanliness. Described as being a colourless to pale yellow liquid, it is composed of the following: