Why it pays to exit the Autobahn to refuel in Germany
At the beginning of the summer travel season, the ADAC looked at fuel prices at a sample of petrol stations across the country and found that the difference in prices between stations on the highway versus those on smaller roads have grown compared to previous years.
In this year's sample of 50 pairs of petrol stations, the average price difference came to just under 44 cents per litre for premium E10 petrol, and more than 42 cents for diesel.
Analysis by the
Bundeskartellamt,
Germany's financial competition authority, recently came to a similar figure of around 40 cents.
For a vehicle with a 50 litre tank, the difference in the cost to fill up would be around €20.
READ ALSO:
Why it's illegal to run out of fuel on the German Autobahn
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Fuel price differences vary between specific stations and even through the different hours of the day, because stations update and change their prices often.
The highest price difference between fuel prices at a highway station versus a nearby station on a smaller road that the ADAC found was 57 cents. The lowest was a mere 0.9 cents.
Overall, however, there were differences of at least 30 cents for E10 at 90 percent of the filling stations, and for diesel at 88 percent of the filling stations.
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"A certain surcharge...is understandable," the ADAC said in a statement, but it criticised the large price differences overall.
The ADAC advises drivers to avoid the petrol stations on the motorways whenever possible: "A short detour is practically always worth it."
Other ways to save money on fuel include filling up in the evening when prices tend to be lower. For international trips, it is often - but not always - cheaper to fill up behind the border than in Germany.
COMPARE:
Is it cheaper to fill your fuel tank in Germany or across the border?
Useful vocabulary:
Highway / motorway -
(die) Autobahn
petrol - gasoline -
(das) Benzin
petrol station -
(die) Tankstelle
diesel -
(der) Diesel / Dieselkraftstoff
With reporting by DPA.
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