The summer holidays are getting closer – how can drivers fill up their tanks and save as much as possible? In May 2022, the ADAC observed the price development at the petrol stations. This results in tangible tips on how to keep an overview of the constant ups and downs in prices!
New trend at the gas station: The highest price is early in the morning, then the price curve for petrol and diesel slides down over the course of the day. It is cheapest between 8pm and 10pm. But in between there are always small jumps upwards, mostly around 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. From 11 p.m. the price skyrockets again.
12 cents less per liter of diesel are in it
The ADAC concludes: “A lot of money can be saved just by choosing the right time to fill up.” If you can, you should only drive to the gas pump in the early morning or – even better – later in the evening.
For diesel, the average difference between the all-time high in the morning and the all-time low in the evening is up to twelve cents per liter! With a 50 liter tank filling, that’s a saving of around eight euros. The price curve is similar for petrol engines, but the peaks are less severe: According to ADAC, the difference here is a maximum of ten cents per liter.
These fluctuations are significantly higher than in the previous year: in 2021, the ADAC calculated a price difference of just seven cents for a liter of petrol and six and a half cents for diesel.
Up to seven price jumps per day
The investigation revealed that there are a maximum of seven upward outliers over the course of the day. This means that the number of price jumps has not increased since 2021. It can be worth waiting just an hour here to pay a few cents less per liter.
The prices for petrol and above all for diesel have risen to hitherto unimagined heights in Germany.
Save when refueling with the Internet, GPS or app
Low price guarantee and discount vouchers for refueling
Shell offers a similar price guarantee to its ClubSmart members. In addition, there are often discount vouchers or coupons to discover. This means using common discount portals.
Off the freeway to fill up
Travelers who stop at a motorway petrol station usually have to dig deep into their pockets. In the summer of 2019, the ADAC determined in a Germany-wide price analysis at over 14,000 petrol stations: Those who fill up on the motorway pay on average a good 20 cents per liter more than at petrol pumps in the rest of the road network (21.4 cents surcharge for a liter of Super E10 and 23 8 cents for a liter of diesel). Not much has changed in that respect, on the contrary.
In other words: Clever travelers with ten minutes to leave the motorway and a 50-liter tank save more than ten euros when filling up with premium petrol, and usually almost twelve euros with diesel.
Refueling abroad: The fuel is cheaper in these countries
When traveling abroad, you should remember that fuel is significantly cheaper in Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Luxembourg – more expensive in Denmark, the Netherlands and above all in Italy.
But tank tourism is not worthwhile if the detour is too big. You should therefore calculate beforehand whether the route will eat up the savings again. For this it is important to know the consumption of your own car.
