Prevent Misfuelling with FuelSure

Phil Cartwright, an inventor and RAC Patrol has invented an amazing device called the FuelSure which prevents misfuelling. It has never happedn to me myself but apparently more than 400 drivers every put petrol into their diesel vehicle by mistake. This translates into 150,000 misfuelling cases per year, 95 per cent are caused by drivers putting petrol into their diesel vehicles due to the wider diesel filler neck and narrower unleaded nozzle.

A very serious mistake indeed as it can cost between £300 upto £5000 to repair, not counting the environmental cost of disposal of this waste fuel, coupled with CO2 emissions generated by towing misfuelled vehicles.

FuelSure replaces the normal fuel cap and is easy to fit and can be used on over 80% of diesel cars and light commercial vehicles in the UK. The device costs £29.95 and is available from RAC Patrols and recovery specialists, as well as selected Halfords stores.

Fuel prices may go down in the UK

According to Sky News, petrol prices may fall in the country. I hope this is true even though I am not betting on it.

It's quite funny to see petrol pumps increasing the prices as soon as World oil prices go up. However, when the World prices go down, they will take their own sweet time to lower the pump prices.

According to the report, the most expensive petrol prices are in London. Even in Coventry itself, prices vary between pumps. The costliest in our area is the Texaco, while the cheapest is Shell.

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic

Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, the latest fuel efficient car from Ford is set to hit European roads soon. Recently unveiled at the British International Motor Show, the car does 65 miles to the gallon (some say 63.5 miles to the gallon). It has been hailed as UK's greenest car.

However, it won't be sold in the US. The reason: it has a diesel engine and apparently the fuel is still not popular with Americans due to a negative image plus the fact that it costlier than gasoline.

Fuel prices down

Finally some good news.

My car was low on fuel and I drove down to my favourite petrol BP station. I was really happy when I noticed the prices have gone down to 113.9p from 117.9p

As I wasn't sure how long the prices would remain down, I filled up the car - full tank. Half an hour later as I was driving past, I noticed that the prices have further gone down to 111.9p and has remained at that price since then.

If you want to find out the cheapest fuel prices in your area (in the UK) check out Petrolprices.com.

However, in order to get the details, you have to sign up for something called the Fubra Passport but that's a minor irritation.

The costliest around my area is the Texaco station at Jubilee Crescent. It is fast to increase it's prices but relaly slow to lower it. Right now the prices over there are still at 117.9p

McCain to issue Clean Car Challenge

Republican John McCain want's to be seen as environmentally friendly. He said that he would issue a Clean Car Challenge to U.S. automakers. If he was elected, he would propose "A $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

Read the Reuters report "McCain calls for $300 million prize for car battery".

Fuel prices still up

A few weeks back, I wrote "Fuel prices coming down". Unfortunately I was wrong. Prices are still above the £1 mark. It was 103.9p for unleaded petrol and 107.9p for diesel at the Texaco station near my house. Prices are a bit lower at BP, Tesco and Morrisons.

I can't believe that they were below 90p when we first arrived here in the UK a year ago.

Fuel prices coming down

The prices of petrol has sky rocket the past few weeks and had even crossed the £1 per litre barrier - the first time since we arrived here in the UK.

Fortunately, the prices seem to be going down and today I saw that it was 89.9p/ litre at my favourite BP station near my house.

That's why I am really annoyed by people back in Malaysia who complain about fuel prices there.

Mitsubishi flex-fuel vehicle

According to a press release issued today, Mitsubishi Motors has launched a flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) - the Pajero TR4 Flex in Brazil

It will be launched in July of this year in the Brazilian market by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) and local production and sales company MMC Automotores do Brasil Ltda (MMCB).

Derived from the Pajero TR4, this is the first full-feature four-wheel drive flex-fuel vehicle (FFV). The use of different materials, modifications to the engine, and changes to the fuel system allow the vehicle to run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol. Modifications to the engine control unit allow for optimum combustion with any fuel mixture, and the redesigned parts of the fuel delivery system add toughness and dependability.

It was reported that the 2.0-liter 16-valve engine that powers the Pajero TR4 Flex delivers similar levels of performance on ethanol-heavy or gasoline-heavy fuel mixes.

The development of FFV is part of Mitsubishi's response to the global trend towards alternative fuel sources.

The company is also currently working on a flex-fuel model it plans to bring into commercial production for the U.S. market in fiscal 2009.

Source of contaminated fuel

If you recall, I wrote a post on contaminated petrol in the UK on Friday, March 02. Well they have finally found out that there was indeed a contamination. It sounds stupid but silicon meant for diesel fuel was added into the unleaded petrol. This occurred in four tanks at a terminal in West Thurrock, east of London, owned by Dutch company Vopak. Harvest Energy shares the facilities with Greenergy, which supplies both Tesco and Morrisons. Asda buys fuel from Harvest Energy.

The problem arose because when the unleaded petrol containing silicon burned, it formed a thin layer of silicon-dioxide on the sensor, which controlled the fuel - air mix. I can see that the immediate result is an increase in the fuel prices overnight.

Petrol contamination in UK

Surprised to hear over the news today that contaminated fuel has affected thousands of cars in the UK - mostly in London and parts of east and south-east England.

Most of the blame has been directed at supermarkets that sell petrol. Both Tesco and Morrisons have said that their tests indicate that there is nothing wrong with their oil.

Of course it's the oil. Hundreds of drivers cannot be lying?

Asda also reported that they received several complaints.

It seems that most of the vehicles affected are those from the higher end with fuel management systems. These high tech equipment compose of sensors that are attached to the exhaust and they determine the oxygen and petrol mix supplied to the engine.

Most of the complainants say that their cars suffered from power loss and misfiring.

Several workshops have run out of replacement parts and costs range from a few hundred pounds and more than £1000 for a few.

I filled up at Tesco last week and fortunately our car is OK.

Tags: Asds Morrison Petrol Tesco