Gasoline prices in Germany

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We were fortunate enough to be able to vacation in Germany for two weeks in June. I had not been there before - it's a really beautiful country, rich in beauty, history, wonderful architecture, and friendly people.

It was really interesting for me, as a car guy, to see all of the makes and models we don't get here in Canada. I should post some of my photos in another thread.

Anyway, I was interested in the high price of 'benzene' (petrol to our Brit, Kiwi, and Aussie friends, and gasoline to us here in North America) and diesel fuel.

Here are a couple of examples from the Friedrichshafen area:

So there's diesel @ 1.319 Euros, E10 @ 1.479 Euros, 'Super' (I suspect this is ethanol-free regular w/ a NA octane equivalent of 87) @ 1.499 Euros, and Supreme @ 1.619 Euros, all per Litre.


In the 2nd photo, the prices are quite a bit less - perhaps Tinol is not a top tier vendor, or perhaps prices dropped in the half-week between when we saw these two stations.

Anyway, here are my low-budget conversions:

1.479 Euros = C$2.26 (based on the average conversion rate while we were there). That compares to the sky-high C$1.30/litre we're paying here in Winnipeg at present. (Our daily broadsheet paper points out that gas is up 50 cents over a year ago!)

So what's that for our American friends? Right now the Euro = $1.17 USD. So based on that June price in Friedrichshafen, a litre of regular with ethanol would be 1.479 x 1.17 = US$1.73.

US$1.73/l x 3.78 l/US gallon = US$6.54/US gallon.

(And C$2.26/l x 4.55 l/Imp gallon = C$10.28/Imperial gallon.)
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Yikes! I will not complain about the prices here. But then again, we found Germany to be so bike-friendly and to have such excellent public transportation that I likely wouldn't be buying a lot of fuel if I lived there. And when I did drive, it could be in an affordable older Mercedes with a manual transmission!
 
Yes, we Canadians complain! I've been to the Baden Württemberg area of Germany a few times, go 35km south to France and the cars change dramatically!
 
In Spain i am currently paying 1.52€ / Litre --- or 6.62$ / US Gallon for 98 RON ( EU equivalent of 93 AKI in the U.S ) , i last saw fuel prices this high in probably 2014 or 15, then again at least here the smart a$$ oil companies raise fuel prices in summer as people are going on vacation, ofcourse, ha.

This is more due to the fact that oil prices went pretty low last year so oil production has been cut back significantly and the prices have shot up in the past months.
Although ofcourse you Americans and Canadians have your own oil reserves and do not depend anywhere near as much on foreign oil as we do in Europe.

I am going on a road trip in a week and expect to drive about 1500km / 1000 miles total, i've calculated with 4 tanks i should have more than enough which comes out to about 350€ on just fuel, although also fuel prices are cheaper on the mainland than here, on the Islands.
 
Back in the late '60's I was in the RCAF stationed in France and Germany. My monthly gas ration was $17.00 for 400L if I needed it. 4.25 c/ltr. Most months I did not.
 
Those gas prices explain the bicycles in the first pic. And the yellow sign in the lower left corner states bike rental here in German in case you cant afford to fill up your car.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Those gas prices explain the bicycles in the first pic. And the yellow sign state bike rental here in German in case you cant afford to fill up your car.

A lot of people in European cities don't need a car to get to work anyway, inside cities people just take the bus, metro or ride a bike rather than drive through the traffic congested centers where it's hard to park.
I know if i worked in my city i would even think of driving, i'd ride my bike or take the bus, but i work at the airport that is 10 kms ( 6 miles ) outside the city.
 
Originally Posted By: FordCapriDriver
This is more due to the fact that oil prices went pretty low last year so oil production has been cut back significantly and the prices have shot up in the past months.
Although ofcourse you Americans and Canadians have your own oil reserves and do not depend anywhere near as much on foreign oil as we do in Europe.


That doesn't really affect the price you pay at the pump, whether it goes into the pocket of a US company or foreign company doesn't really matter. The reason it's higher is due to the higher taxes added on by various governments. Canada adds some taxes but I guess not as much as Europe. The US doesn't do anywhere near as much taxes so it's a lot cheaper. But we don't get universal healthcare from the government either.
 
Over 40 years ago I routinely paid over USD $9 / gallon for fuel, all over Europe.

We also overpaid for our cars, always at least 2x the US sticker prices, often more.

The offset to all of this was totally free medical care, free dental care, free graduate degree at university.
 
I still have my car and MC (2) there but when I want to go in the city I use public transport to get there in a few min.
No point in taking a car, trying to park it, traffic jams in a big city mon-sat and all the rest of it.
The U-Bahn station is on the corner and there are stops all over the city, it takes 10 min or less, why would anyone want to take a car?
 
One of the things that always stuck with me is I work for a multinational company and we get several Europeans over here from time to time. They do not understand "commuting" for work.... from what I gather, they are completely opposite from the American way.

Generally, Americans find the company and location they want to work for, and then they begin searching around that area for someplace to live (usually some distance from work to get their preferred housing requirements). The Europeans all shared that they decided where they want to live first, and then find a local job. This is probably a big reason for the differences we see in transportation trends, public transportation systems, roads, cars, and fuel costs.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
I still have my car and MC (2) there but when I want to go in the city I use public transport to get there in a few min.
No point in taking a car, trying to park it, traffic jams in a big city mon-sat and all the rest of it.
The U-Bahn station is on the corner and there are stops all over the city, it takes 10 min or less, why would anyone want to take a car?
Trav, what city in Germany? We spent a few days in Berlin with a day-trip to Potsdam, a couple of days with friends in Lemgo (and took in Detmold too), a week in Friedrichshafen, and a day in Frankfurt. All six locales had their own flavour, and I liked them all. Friedrichshafen and Berlin seemed to be particularly bike-friendly.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Those gas prices explain the bicycles in the first pic. And the yellow sign in the lower left corner states bike rental here in German in case you cant afford to fill up your car.
Indeed, that's where we rented our Hercules bikes. They were 21-speed (3 x 7) with 700 x 40 mm tires, helmets, and panniers for 10 Euros/day each. This photo was taken from the south (Swiss) shore of Lake Constance, looking across to the German side:


But it's cheap to fill your tank vs. your sump!

Those Mobil1 prices are per litre, but bear in mind that the photo was taken at a service station, not at a German equivalent of Walmart. You can see some pretty crazy prices on oil at a gas station here.
 
Originally Posted By: KGMtech
Yes, we Canadians complain! I've been to the Baden Württemberg area of Germany a few times, go 35km south to France and the cars change dramatically!
I plan to post some photos, but will say now that EU-zone cars in general were dominant. There were lots of VWs and Mercedes, I'd say followed by Audi, BMW, Renault, Peugeot, Fiat, and Opel. Skodas and Dacias were not uncommon, and we saw a few Seats. I think that Renault and Peugeot fall under the PSA company together, and that VW has at least alliances with Seat (from Spain) and Skoda (From Romania). Japanese cars were rare (5% overall?) and NA cars tended to be classics rather than daily drivers. We did see a few RAM trucks.

The biggest surprise to me was how a high percentage of the Mercedes vehicles were working trucks and daily-driver cars. They were not limited to luxury cars.

As well, I was smitten with any number of small camper-vans. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence ...
 
Originally Posted By: Number_35
Originally Posted By: Trav
I still have my car and MC (2) there but when I want to go in the city I use public transport to get there in a few min.
No point in taking a car, trying to park it, traffic jams in a big city mon-sat and all the rest of it.
The U-Bahn station is on the corner and there are stops all over the city, it takes 10 min or less, why would anyone want to take a car?
Trav, what city in Germany? We spent a few days in Berlin with a day-trip to Potsdam, a couple of days with friends in Lemgo (and took in Detmold too), a week in Friedrichshafen, and a day in Frankfurt. All six locales had their own flavour, and I liked them all. Friedrichshafen and Berlin seemed to be particularly bike-friendly.


Nürnberg
 
Have relatives in Holland. Every time we go, gas is about $8 a gallon equivalent ...

Might be less right now, but I know it'll be back up as soon as we book tickets
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I was really glad that I read up on things before I rented a car in Italy and learned that benzin=gasoline in the US and gasolio=US diesel.
Could have been a real mess for my little MB rental if I have put some gasolio in its gasoline engine!

I took the trains or got driven around during my one trip to Germany on business, so no issue there. Stayed in Heilbronn (not much fun), Hannover (OK), and Koln (great!).
 
You see quality oil at the service station. Here, it's likely to be Accel SA non-detergent. Definitely non-synthetic.
 
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