Fuel prices are falling - but what's the matter with diesel?

Created: 03/24/2022, 14:20

By: Marcus Efler

Parallel to the relief provided by the federal government, the price of gas at the gas station is also falling.

However, drivers will have to get used to a strange development.

Munich – After refueling had become a real luxury for many weeks and led to weird reactions on the part of drivers (such as filling up with salad oil or simply stealing diesel), relief is now in sight across the board.

The extensive measures taken by the federal government alone ensure this.

But they are limited in time.

So it's all the more reassuring that the price of fuel is now falling anyway - and therefore the gas station bill should soon be significantly cheaper overall.

ADAC: Fuel prices are falling – is normalcy returning?

The price for a liter of Super E10 has fallen by 11.2 cents since last week (as of mid-March).

According to this, a liter currently costs 2.080 euros on average nationwide, as determined by the ADAC, according to 24auto.de.

The price of diesel has fallen in a similarly clear manner: Drivers currently have to pay an average of 2.173 euros for a liter – a drop of 11.9 cents.

Even if the price decline has now come to a standstill again: After fuel prices had hardly moved at first despite the clearly falling crude oil prices, the trend is now clearly pointing downwards.

The fuel price is moving away from its record highs.

(Iconic image) © Jan Huebner/Imago

ADAC: Fuel prices are falling - but diesel remains expensive

Many motorists are now hoping that the price – even after the expiry of the relief package – will return to the level it was before Russia invaded Ukraine.

However, they will probably have to put up with one anomaly for a long time: that diesel, contrary to decades of experience, is more expensive than Super E10.

For the time being, this imbalance will be significantly increased by the federal government's tank discount: while petrol is subsidized at 30 cents per liter, diesel is only 14 cents.

According to the current status, the difference per liter would be 25 cents.

The low consumption (approx. 20 percent) of a compression-ignition engine compared to that of a petrol engine would hardly be noticeable in the fuel bill.

Since the motor vehicle tax is also significantly higher for a diesel, most owners of a diesel vehicle will be more expensive in the future than they would be with a petrol engine.