Fill 'er up with Four Star

[jeremyp]

In this story

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/28/driver-pulls-knife-forecourt-row-motorists-resort-filling-wrong/ (may be paywalled)

the Petrol Retailers Association reported

However the calls [not to panic buy] appeared to fall on deaf ears, with the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) reporting that many motorists, when they were able to find a filling station that was open, were taking on far more fuel than usual.

"It is panic buying when you go to fill up your car to the entirety of its tank capacity which you wouldn't normally do. You would fill up, say, half," Mr Madderson said.

"The average fill across the UK is about £25 worth. We have seen people filling up to £100 worth when they can."

What I want to know is, even under normal circumstance, who goes to the petrol station and doesn't fill their tank to the max (excepting the people who can't afford a full tank). I think the last time I didn't brim the tank was in about 1987 when it was my parents' car and I just needed to get to Hemel Hempstead and back.

[Aruntraveller]

In this story

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/28/driver-pulls-knife-forecourt-row-motorists-resort-filling-wrong/ (may be paywalled)

the Petrol Retailers Association reported

What I want to know is, even under normal circumstance, who goes to the petrol station and doesn't fill their tank to the max (excepting the people who can't afford a full tank). I think the last time I didn't brim the tank was in about 1987 when it was my parents' car and I just needed to get to Hemel Hempstead and back.

Mostly I do the same. There has been the odd occasion where I've reluctantly taken on a tenners worth on the motorway, just to get home, but apart from that I always fill up.

[Nearly Sane]

When I used to drive my tendency was to fill it up but I'd do it anytime it was convenient after it dropped below half full.

For people to be filling up £100 then it's a big empty tank. My thought is this is people who don't drive frequently but are thinking they need to fill up just in case.

[Udayana]

We nearly always fill up the tank, but only when we are starting on a long journey or the warning light has come on. This is mainly to avoid having to pop into the petrol station.

In fact it is less efficient/wasteful to keep the tank more than about half full as you are likely carrying around an unneeded extra half tank everywhere. 

[jeremyp]

In fact it is less efficient/wasteful to keep the tank more than about half full as you are likely carrying around an unneeded extra half tank everywhere.

I wonder if that outweighs the extra number of fill-ups you would need.

[Aruntraveller]

Well I hope it settles down soon, as my car is getting to the point where it starts to ping at me and telling me I've only got 30 miles left.

[ProfessorDavey]

In this story

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/28/driver-pulls-knife-forecourt-row-motorists-resort-filling-wrong/ (may be paywalled)

the Petrol Retailers Association reported

What I want to know is, even under normal circumstance, who goes to the petrol station and doesn't fill their tank to the max (excepting the people who can't afford a full tank). I think the last time I didn't brim the tank was in about 1987 when it was my parents' car and I just needed to get to Hemel Hempstead and back.

I'd love to know where this stat of average fill just £25 comes from. It just doesn't ring true to me.

I'm sure I'm not uncommon in waiting until relatively near empty and then filling to full, so about £50 or more. And for some people with larger cars and fuel tanks this will be more still, hence the £100 comment.

So for the average to be just £25, for every person filling up with £50 you'd need another filling up with ... err ... zero.

Now actually this will be about greater numbers of small fills, vs smaller numbers of larger fills, but I still find the statistic implausible. Sure there are some people who can't afford a complete fill from empty to full, but there surely must be plenty more who do exactly what I do, get to quarter tank or less and fill it up to full.

But it is one of those classic stats thrown into an article without any idea where it has come from.

[Spud]

We nearly always fill up the tank, but only when we are starting on a long journey or the warning light has come on. This is mainly to avoid having to pop into the petrol station.

In fact it is less efficient/wasteful to keep the tank more than about half full as you are likely carrying around an unneeded extra half tank everywhere.

I find the engine feels more powerful when the tank is full. But I still end up leaving it until it's about a quarter or less. "Life's Little Instruction Book" by H. Jackson Brown says fill up when it's a quarter full.

[jeremyp]

I'd love to know where this stat of average fill just £25 comes from. It just doesn't ring true to me.

That was my point really. I don't remember the last time I put only £25 of petrol into my tank, but it was probably in the early 90's.

But it is one of those classic stats thrown into an article without any idea where it has come from.

Might be one for More or Less.

[jeremyp]

I find the engine feels more powerful when the tank is full. But I still end up leaving it until it's about a quarter or less. "Life's Little Instruction Book" by H. Jackson Brown says fill up when it's a quarter full.

Before the pandemic, I used to leave it until the warning light came on, which it does when the computer thinks I have 40 miles left. During the lock down things changed because

a) I was using a tank full about every three months or longer

b) I moved house so I now need my car much less and when I do, it's mostly for long journeys of two hours or more. I'll often stop for a break half way through and fill up at the same time if I've got less than about half a tank.

[ProfessorDavey]

That was my point really. I don't remember the last time I put only £25 of petrol into my tank, but it was probably in the early 90's.

I agree, but even if it is true I think it misses the point.

If you have two people using the same amount of fuel and one always buys £20 of fuel and the other waits until the car is near empty and then buys £60 of fuel the former will be buying fuel )perhaps every few days depending on consumption) far more regularly than the latter.

So if fuel buying habits remained as they were sure on day one there would be less fuel bought but a few days later the first person will be back for more fuel. If they both fill up, while that might deplete more initially there will be a greater gap before each of them needs to refuel.

So the issue isn't really people buying £60 rather than £20 worth of fuel but people who wouldn't normally have considered refuelling at all for a while panic buying. So I suspect the problem isn't the former buying £60 of fuel (well only in part), but the latter buying £30 of fuel when normally they wouldn't have bought any for another couple of weeks.

Might be one for More or Less.

Indeed it might.