Fuel prices annoy motorists. They are currently reeling. ADAC explains when you should fill up a car to save money. It’s worth comparing.
Hamm – Let’s rephrase the line from a well-known Malle hit: “I’ve thought about giving up driving, but I’m still hesitating.” They are still fluctuating, like fuel prices. Whether it’s petrol or diesel, it doesn’t matter: the market is restless. Improvement is not in sight. Many gas station tenants are annoyed by this. After all, ADAC has a tip for fuel customers. You can save a lot of money with it.
Fuel costs, inflation and the energy crisis keep people in NRW and all of Germany busy
In light of continuing inflation and the energy crisis, more and more people in NRW and throughout Germany would like to leave their cars at home, as one often hears. For many, fuel costs are simply unaffordable. The money would be missing elsewhere, for example during the weekly supermarket shopping. No wonder more and more people will be eligible for housing benefit from 2023. It gets especially expensive at the gas station in the morning hours. Behind this is a profit-oriented thinking of the companies.
ADAC, which also has a tip on the new first aid kit rule, therefore advises “absolutely to refuel in the evening hours between 20:00 and 22:00”, as spokeswoman Katrin van Randenborgh explains in a interview with wa.de. “You should never fill up in the morning. Motorists should also monitor the market and compare prices, ”she says. Sometimes there are daily fluctuations in fuel prices of up to 20 cents per litre.
Fluctuating fuel prices in Germany: This phenomenon has been observed for some time
“We have been observing this phenomenon since March of last year. Recently, however, the fluctuations have not been so extreme,” says the ADAC spokeswoman. This is also confirmed by Jürgen Ziegner from the Central Association of the Petrol Station Industry (ZTG). As managing director, one one of the objectives of his work is the examination of the economic conditions in the petrol station contracts of the oil companies and their effects on the situation of the members of the ZTG.
“It’s the competition’s fault that prices at petrol stations fluctuate so much. But it’s no more extreme than usual and the price cycles stay relatively the same,” says Ziegner in an interview with wa.de. This is not surprising. Thanks to the Internet and networking, competitors’ prices can be viewed in real time. The adjustments were made quickly.
“The times when tenants drove past their competitors’ petrol stations to transfer prices to the central office are long gone,” explains the petrol station expert. But the central recording of petrol or diesel prices also offers an advantage for refueling.
Drivers should use apps to compare fuel prices and gas stations
Thanks to various apps, drivers and customers of petrol stations can quickly and easily compare fuel prices. “You should definitely use this tool,” says ADAC spokeswoman van Randenborgh. This would put consumers under pressure in the market. Drivers should not only empty the tank to the last drop, but always refill it when fuel is cheap. “We encourage clients to use their market power,” she says. Customers aren’t the only ones suffering from high and fluctuating fuel prices. The gas station tenants aren’t exactly happy either.
Prices at petrol stations are centrally controlled by the corporations. The further reason for increasing the cost of petrol or diesel in the morning hours is as simple as it is advantageous, even if not for everyone.
Fuel is more expensive in the morning because businesses rely on forgetful commuters
“The companies want to take the commuter traffic with them and hope for the commuters who forgot to fill up with fuel the night before,” says ZTG Managing Director Ziegner. Some people may pay less attention to fuel prices in the morning hours, as in some cases the business still bears the costs and their wallet is unaffected. However, high fuel prices in the morning mean fewer passing customers for the tenants of the respective petrol stations.
“The so-called coffee customers are gone. So people who fill up and also buy things in the shop”, says Ziegner. For some tenants, it is therefore less and less convenient to open in the morning, also due to rising energy prices, which among other things leads to subsidies for the heating costs, which many do not even know about, but they have to.
“This decision is not up to the tenants, who have signed contracts and depend on the big companies,” says Ziegner. As is the case with fuel prices, whether they fluctuate or not.
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