Car Talk: Is there a danger of gas going stale?

Q: I have a question that is tied to the pandemic. A lot of people are driving less these days. How long does it take for gasoline to go "bad" in a car's gas tank?

I have a Kia Optima Hybrid and a Honda Fit. In normal times, I'd fill up each one every week or two. But these days, I can go two months (or more) before I'd need to refill the tanks. What's the best way to manage gasoline usage so it doesn't go bad?

A: I've always taken a very scientific approach. I make sure I fill up whenever the gas gauge gets close to "E." And if that takes a while these days, you have nothing to worry about. Most modern gasolines will store for a year.

When the Chevy Volt, which was the first "plug-in hybrid" model on the market, debuted in late 2010, it had both a battery pack, which gave you 35 to 40 miles on a charge, and a gasoline engine, which could take you a couple of hundred miles more.

We wondered, kind of like you're wondering, what happens if we own a Volt and drive it less than 35 miles a day — like a lot of people do. Under those conditions, you could go indefinitely on battery power alone and never activate the gasoline engine.

Well, it turns out the folks at Chevrolet thought of that, too. And they programmed the Volt's computer so that once the gasoline had been in the tank for a year, it would automatically switch to the gasoline engine to empty out the fuel tank and force you to refill it. And they probably erred on the side of caution. So it'd probably be fine for more than a year. Certainly you'll be fine for two or three months.

Q: My 2019 Alfa, with a 2-liter engine, doesn't have a dipstick to check the oil level. Can I trust the oil level light on the dash?

Most people are only too happy to never have to open the hood of their car, so carmakers are responding accordingly. In fact, if you do open the hood now just to look at your engine, you can't even see it anymore. It's covered by a big piece of plastic called the "engine cover." They might as well emboss it with "Nothing to see here, folks!"

The oil level on your car — and on most new cars these days — is measured by a sensor inside the crankcase. And it is reliable. Put it this way: If you ran out of oil while the car still was under warranty, Alfa would owe you a very expensive engine. So they trust the sensor enough to protect their financial interests.

If the level gets too low, the sensor triggers an "oil level" light on your dashboard and tells you to add some. The carmakers usually build in sufficient leeway so that when the light comes on, it's not a dire emergency. You have time to mosey to a gas station and buy a quart of oil.

On some cars, including your Alfa, you can check the oil level on your touch screen. If you burrow into your screen menus, you'll find one that says "Car Status." In there, you'll see an option for "Oil Level." Park the car on a level surface, follow the prompts, wait a couple of minutes while the sensor reads your oil level, and — Che Bellezza! — you'll see a graphic representation of your dipstick on the screen.

If you miss burning the tips of your fingers from touching the hot dipstick, you always can touch the car's cigarette lighter.