Fuel Prices in Germany

I saw an article online today about fuel prices in Germany. The author claims that prices are being manipulated by the oil companies and that the price at any particular station changes several times each day. It is highest in the early morning when people are commuting to work, goes down in the middle of the day and then goes back up again in the evening. According to the article the price can vary as much as 18 Euro cents per liter. I thought things were crazy in the US but this is ridiculous. Current prices in Germany at today's exchange rate puts gas between $8.50 and $9.00/gallon.

Originally Posted by rmorin49

I saw an article online today about fuel prices in Germany. The author claims that prices are being manipulated by the oil companies and that the price at any particular station changes several times each day. It is highest in the early morning when people are commuting to work, goes down in the middle of the day and then goes back up again in the evening. According to the article the price can vary as much as 18 Euro cents per liter. I thought things were crazy in the US but this is ridiculous. Current prices in Germany at today's exchange rate puts gas between $8.50 and $9.00/gallon.

With prices like that no wonder they're quoted in liters.

Makes the rest of the ED costs look reasonable.

I start a 3 week European vacation in a couple weeks. We anticipate driving around 3000 miles so even if the rental can average 35 mpg, we will likely spend about $750 on fuel.

Originally Posted by rmorin49

I start a 3 week European vacation in a couple weeks. We anticipate driving around 3000 miles so even if the rental can average 35 mpg, we will likely spend about $750 on fuel.

We did a motor tour of the Brittish Isles a while back. At the time one of the gas companies was giving out tokens that could be collected and redeemed for pieces of chinaware.
I still have a soup bowl that went for about 50P in the shops.
It cost me a small fortune in petrol.

Originally Posted by VIZSLA

We did a motor tour of the Brittish Isles a while back. At the time one of the gas companies was giving out tokens that could be collected and redeemed for pieces of chinaware.
I still have a soup bowl that went for about 50P in the shops.
It cost me a small fortune in petrol.

Lmao

Originally Posted by VIZSLA

We did a motor tour of the Brittish Isles a while back. At the time one of the gas companies was giving out tokens that could be collected and redeemed for pieces of chinaware.
I still have a soup bowl that went for about 50P in the shops.
It cost me a small fortune in petrol.

We just paid £1.479/litre Just imagine how much that soup bowl would cost at today's prices.

Originally Posted by Andrew*Debbie

We just paid £1.479/litre Just imagine how much that soup bowl would cost at today's prices.

Most expensive piece of crockery we own

In the U.S., fuel prices have risen since the start of the year 20% for gasoline and 10% for diesel (see article here).

You can save up to 5 - 10 cent per liter if you buy the gas at a free fuel station in Germany.. so avoid to fill up the car at Shell, BP, ARAL, TOTAL etc.

Originally Posted by ChrisM318ti

You can save up to 5 - 10 cent per liter if you buy the gas at a free fuel station in Germany.. so avoid to fill up the car at Shell, BP, ARAL, TOTAL etc.

What is a "free fuel station"?

Originally Posted by rmorin49

What is a "free fuel station"?

I think non-name brand, so not an Aral, etc but a Mom&Pop shop.

Here, its about $.30 more, but thats because they sell no-ethanol gas

Originally Posted by Meiac09

I think non-name brand, so not an Aral, etc but a Mom&Pop shop.

Thats correct.. its a no-name brand
One of the most popular under the no-name brands is "bft"


Also look out for the lettering "Freie Tankstelle" .. as said, just avoid (if possible of course) BP, SHELL, ARAL, ESSO, TOTAL etc.

Originally Posted by ChrisM318ti

Thats correct.. its a no-name brand
One of the most popular under the no-name brands is "bft"


Also look out for the lettering "Freie Tankstelle" .. as said, just avoid (if possible of course) BP, SHELL, ARAL, ESSO, TOTAL etc.

Keep in mind that this is your shiny new Bimmer that you're putting fuel in. I gladly paid the prices of the Esso / Aral / BP stations to feel more confident that I was getting clean quality gasoline.

During my ED, I drove 932 miles on a little under $300 worth of petrol. Certainly not cheap gas, but not high enough to make me take any chances on using quality fuels.

Originally Posted by rmorin49

I start a 3 week European vacation in a couple weeks.

AFAIK he is having a rental car and not doing ED..
The rental agency will not ask which fuel one put in

What does BFT stands for?

The ones I'm thinking of can't be right, can they??

Besonderes, Besser, Benutzen, bestimmt,
Fxxken, fxxker, fremden
Tankstellen

??

Besonderes Fremden Tankstellen -- Just for those who don't speak German.

It means "Bundesverband Freier Tankstellen" or translated into english: "Federal Association of Free Gas Stations"

Originally Posted by ChrisM318ti

AFAIK he is having a rental car and not doing ED..
The rental agency will not ask which fuel one put in

Correct, we'll be driving a rental for 3 weeks, hopefully a diesel VW Passat Variant. I'll be buying the cheapest diesel fuel I can find.

Paid £1.499/litre for Shell v-power last night. Prices continue to inch up.

Any update for recent price in Germany?

Read and weep:

Price fixing, released on 2013/03/21 11:04 pm (MEZ)

EUR Euro (***8364USD U.S. Dollar ($) LiterGallon
Regular2.041 USD / Liter Super2.042 USD / Liter Super Plus2.120 USD / Liter Diesel1.812 USD / Liter Super E101.990 USD / Liter

You can be sure that the gas prices in Germany are not changing every day about 0,10 to 0,20€. But it is true that we have a much higher gas price level when we are closer to public holidays or the main vacation period in summer. Also true is that you can save a bit money if you avoid the the big brand names, like Shell, Aral and Esso an so forth. There are numbers of smaller gas stations private owned or belong to a chain that is offering cheaper gas, like Jet or BFT for instance.
Well, in my opinion the gas prices in Europe are definitely too high, but compared with the fuel consumption of most of the US cars, the advantage of lower gas prices in the US is just marginale. US car reviewers are happy and excited about fuel consumption that is about 19 or 20 mpg, well here we getting excited when the mpg reach 35mpg and more. A friend of mine just got his new 335i and was surprised about 27mpg that he reached during his trip through Germany (his former Cadillac ATS got numbers of 19 to 21mpg).
So, don't worry too much about gas prices :-))