Oil companies - do they have a solution as good as FuelSure for diesel misfuel prevention?

With the big attraction of diesel as a fuel for car engines because of the savings in fuel consumption compared to petrol - reckon on up to 20% better fuel efficiency - there is a massive swing over to diesel cars by British motorists. With petrol prices constantly rising, a 20% differential means bigger and bigger savings in absolute terms, and an excellent reason to make the incredibly reasonable investment in FuelSure.

More than this, because of less emission gas effects than petrol and the possibility of advanced exhaust systems to clean up diesel fumes even more, diesel is a relative winner on both counts. Everything seems fine - until such time as a motorist forgets that he or she is driving a diesel engine car and misfuels by putting in petrol instead of diesel. Yet using FuelSure would automatically prevent such a problem.

Estimates of around 150,000 cars being disabled per year by misfuelling may just be the tip of the iceberg. These estimates are based on figures from organisations like the AA and the RAC. The AA recently reported about 44,000 cases and the RAC about 50,000, per year. However, these figures refer simply to what is visible. The number of people partially misfueling, some unthinkingly, others even deliberately perpetuating a useless, even dangerous tactic against cold weather, could be much greater.

Partial misfueling will not necessarily show itself as obviously as complete misfuelling which typically ends in a roadside breakdown. At FuelSure , we know that partial misfuelling, much more insidious, shows up as poor performance, increase petrol consumption, failed emission tests, overheating exhaust systems and reduced vehicle life.

Oil companies have a number of solutions under consideration or already in proposal to combat diesel misfuelling. Some are more effective than others. One proposal is for intelligent fuel pumps. Information on the car’s number plate would be matched with DVLA database information to immediately determine if the vehicle should be served petrol or diesel, and then lock the pump distribution to the correct fuel. The solution borrows some ideas from congestion control in London, where cameras monitor cars and car number plates to ensure that congestion tax has been paid.

The idea of intelligent petrol pumps that will not pump petrol fuel into diesel cars is being actively worked on, but a real solution still needs to be tested and then rolled out on a nationwide basis to have any significant effect as a misfueling solution. By comparison, the simple solution of completely standardised colour coding for pumps and pump labels makes sense because of its relatively minimal cost.

Yet, neither of these two misfueling solutions manages to be foolproof and low-cost at the same time. In the meantime, many motoring organisations remain convinced that the only effective solution for diesel misfuel prevention is to physically prevent the possibility of a petrol pump nozzle entering a diesel fuel tank filler neck. Enter FuelSure!

Find out how a simple and inexpensive diesel misfuelling prevention device, which meets motoring organisation criteria, is now available to you. Contact us now on this site or call us on 0845 475 8397.