Why are European fuel prices a whole lot cheaper at night?

Variable fuel prices? News to me, unless I've not noticed. I think one new station did try it in my town but people stopped using it because you never knew what the price was going to be. I thought he was just erratic but now I see he was trying to make money on the commuters. Hmmm, that might work on a Motorway Service Station but people don't like being ripped off and have long memories for that sort of nonsense.

The only thing I have noticed is the continued upward trend.

 

So I suppose this is more of a German phenomenon? I would like an explanation for it as well.

 

should have posted in the international forum.

 

I known. In Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Switzerland and many more this doesn't happen. prices are the same at night or day.

 

I lived in Germany nine years and was not aware of this.

I double checked the original post date to see if it was April 1. Seems like it should have been, right?

PA P

 

It sounds like a complete scam to me. Maybe it's that total contempt for the customer/public is why the European Union, is up s**t creek without a paddle?

 

nah, this is false. They can't change prices like that. There's some laws and regulations to prevent this from happening. There's even rules specifying how they have to display the prices etc. Sure prices can change from one day to another but that always happens to any product. Also there's some promotions sometimes with some companies where gas is cheaper at specific dates.
but changing daily? I do travel a lot and I'm 100% sure that doesn't happen in most EU countries, if in any.
Seams fake to me. April's fool.

 

Sounds like basic, simple supply and demand to me: During rush hour and holidays more people are likely to be in need of gas, and enough of them will pay the price that the stations can charge it. Seems to me I've always heard that during big travel holidays gas in the U.S. goes up. Time-of-day pricing would just be an extension of that. In countries where the people are more ornery, they'll rebel and refuse to pay, and make a point of buying their gas at the cheap times, and maybe, like GrumpyCabbie, boycott the station altogether. In hyper-rational countries like Germany, people will figure that a couple of bucks extra for the convenience of not having to make a special trip out for gas is worth it.

Americans will drive half an hour to save $1 on a tank of gas. So time of day pricing would probably flop here. Germans are more likely to calculate the value of the time saved vs. the cost of stopping on the way home when they're already in the car. Germany is also a more affluent country than Spain, Portugal, Italy, so Germans can better afford to spend a few bucks extra for the convenience.

 

There's that possibility, too.

 

So now I have to go outside, down the road to the nearest gas station several times daily, take a bloody picture of the god damn price stand just to show Mr. Internet here that the prices go up and down like this daily!?

Trust me, they go up and down just like I described - daily.
I don't know how many years this has been going on now, but this is how it is.

 

PriQ, I would be glad to see that documented-- a photo from 9:58 a.m. and another from 10:02 a.m. showing at 18% jump in price. No photoshopping allowed.

If this were the case it seems there could be some unpleasant interactions at the pump at 10 a.m. when the person in front of you spends too much time looking through his Bild Zeitung before moving his vehicle from the pump. Can we agree on that?

 

I should be able to do that.
The 18% I can't promise - it might be even more! The 18% comes from a fateful Friday where I was unlucky and didn't make it until after 10AM... needless to say, I only filled up 5 liters

Since it's now 4:42PM, there's some time before I can do this.

Here is a German article discussing how the daily changes have changes in the recent years (now it's Sunday which is the cheapest):
Spritpreise: Am Wochenende günstig tanken - News - FOCUS Online - Nachrichten (German)

The 10AM is a Danish phenomena I discovered while visiting Copenhagen. Here are some Danes discussing it:
Billig benzin - hvor og hvornår? (Danish)

 

Da bin ich aber gespannt.

The price difference throughout the week noted in the German article is less than 3%.

PA P

 

Here's a national news channel from Denmark reporting on the 10AM changes (this is when the adjustments for the new day are introduced):
Benzinprisen stiger klokken 10 - TV 2 Finans (Danish)

Combining the daily fluctuations (general increased gas prices) with the change from a cheap to expensive day (Thursday to Friday) and you can become extremely unlucky at 10AM.

(me speaking with the voice of an old Dutch sailer)
It was a chillingly cold Friday morning. One of those where the diesel burner needs some extra time before attempting to crank. I was passing by the Shell station near large bridge to Amager and the large sign read the magic words "Diesel: 9.89kr./l". The sign still stands clearly in my mind. Paying less than 10 Danish crowns per. liter was a rarity in these parts of the woods. Swiftly, I pulled the oil burner into the nearly empty station. Just as I was ready to use my card, I discovered that I must have had forgotten my wallet at the hotel. My wallet contains everything from drivers license to credit cards, so I had to double back. By the time I was back at the gas station, the clock was already ten past ten and the price had gone up to the ordinary discouraging 11.63. I put in 5 liters in the hope that I wouldn't need more before prices went down again. Sadly, this was too much to hope for.

 

I'm thinking you could be right

 

Heading over to Germany to check this thread out. I am also going to ask what people think about the renewables program. I usually take taxis so that gives me talking material (for those cabbies that speak some English - like GrumpyCabbie does).

 

After talking with Danish friends, it appears that I have fallen victim to something they call "priskrig". Apparently it's common for Danish gas stations to start "price wars" against each other, only to go back to normal prices some morning at 10...
That would explain the 18%.

Typically, prices only go up around 10% (apparently), but I will do the price check tomorrow - then we will see.

 

priskrig = 1 april fool ;-)

 

I'm not sure if tomorrow is a good day to check. They may resurrect the prices an extraordinary amount since it is Easter.

PA P