Petrol panic buying

[ainsworth74]

Is it a huge concern if you're keeping left on a two or three lane carriageway?

Indeed that's why God gave us overtaking lanes!

I won't lie I'd probably have a grumble along the lines of "why are you going so slow?" but then I'd overtake and move on with life! Certainly no dramatic road rage would ensue.

 

[LowLevel]

Is it a huge concern if you're keeping left on a two or three lane carriageway?

As long as you aren't causing lorries to overtake, not really. One of my biggest bugbears is people cruising along in cars at about 54 mph on a 70 mph road meaning lorries are lumbering out around them.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Is it a huge concern if you're keeping left on a two or three lane carriageway?

Depends what angst you see behind you !. And it can get hard moving out of the left most lane when you need to overtake.

As long as you aren't causing lorries to overtake, not really. One of my biggest bugbears is people cruising along in cars at about 54 mph on a 70 mph road meaning lorries are lumbering out around them.

Exactly. On motorways driving not much faster than the speed lorries are limited to saves fuel but gets quite involved. Overtaking (and moving back) is something I see other road users struggling with and I notice it is more work than going at a steady speed matching other users of the 2nd and 3rd lanes.

 

[Fragezeichnen]

I volunteer for a heritage railway and today I got a message from someone in a safety critical role that they wouldn't be able to fulfil their rostered turn because they were unable to find anywhere they could purchase the fuel they needed to travel to the railway.

Is this affecting workers on the public railway too? Do we need "priority hours" for key workers, as was implemented in Supermarkets at one point?

 

[LowLevel]

I volunteer for a heritage railway and today I got a message from someone in a safety critical role that they wouldn't be able to fulfil their rostered turn because they were unable to find anywhere they could purchase the fuel they needed to travel to the railway.

Is this affecting workers on the public railway too? Do we need "priority hours" for key workers, as was implemented in Supermarkets at one point?

I saw at least one control message yesterday that a Network Rail fault team was unable to attend because they couldn't fuel their van so it's quite possible.

 

[EssexGonzo]

I saw evidence of easing last night……

Popped down to Costco to collect my new specs. Car was down to the last 50 miles of range so I queued no more than 5 mins to fill up. All very calm and civilised. Drove past a Sainsburys - open, forecourt looked half full at most. Also drove past an Esso that was still closed.

The roads seemed quieter - I wonder if people have calmed down and the idiots have no more jerry cans left to fill? As other have said, there’s only so much domestic fuel storage capacity available.

 

[RichJF]

I saw evidence of easing last night……

Popped down to Costco to collect my new specs. Car was down to the last 50 miles of range so I queued no more than 5 mins to fill up. All very calm and civilised. Drove past a Sainsburys - open, forecourt looked half full at most. Also drove past an Esso that was still closed.

The roads seemed quieter - I wonder if people have calmed down and the idiots have no more jerry cans left to fill? As other have said, there’s only so much domestic fuel storage capacity available.

Depends where you are.

It's got much worse Monday/Tuesday where I live. Police called a couple of times to manage normal traffic as it's now affecting the A22, A264.

 

[chorleyjeff]

Indeed that's why God gave us overtaking lanes!

I won't lie I'd probably have a grumble along the lines of "why are you going so slow?" but then I'd overtake and move on with life! Certainly no dramatic road rage would ensue.

Drive in the left lane at HGV speed for a quiet life. Boring and you arrive a few minutes later but with more petrol in the tank.

 

[Darandio]

Meanwhile life seems normal here. Unless the multiple times i've passed during the last week have been incredibly lucky, both supermarket filling stations in the town here haven't had queues, no empty signs and all pumps seem to be open.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

There's been a few "viral" videos of people using unsuitable containers for fuel... I suspect that may lead to staff shortages at forecourts because when I worked at a petrol station I was told in no uncertain terms that activating a pump without checking that (a) the customer was filling a vehicle or a proper container; and (b) the customer hadn't decided to let little Timmy operate the pump, was a strict no-no.

 

[Dai Corner]

There's been a few "viral" videos of people using unsuitable containers for fuel... I suspect that may lead to staff shortages at forecourts because when I worked at a petrol station I was told in no uncertain terms that activating a pump without checking that (a) the customer was filling a vehicle or a proper container; and (b) the customer hadn't decided to let little Timmy operate the pump, was a strict no-no.

Maybe these incidents were at unmanned petrol stations?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Maybe these incidents were at unmanned petrol stations?

The ones I've seen videos of weren't.

But you do bring to mind an issue with unmanned stations- I always assumed they were at least monitored remotely by CCTV, with pumps not activated if there was anything untoward.

 

[Dai Corner]

The ones I've seen videos of weren't.

But you do bring to mind an issue with unmanned stations- I always assumed they were at least monitored remotely by CCTV, with pumps not activated if there was anything untoward.

I've never noticed any delay once my payment has been authorised so either the remote operator at the station I use regularly is very on the ball or no manual pump activation is required.

 

[jon0844]

The petrol stations by me have been closing overnight rather than keep the pay at pump machines open like normal.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've never noticed any delay once my payment has been authorised so either the remote operator at the station I use regularly is very on the ball or no manual pump activation is required.

I suppose the card authorisation is a check to some extent, though I'd be surprised (and somewhat concerned) if there was not at the very least an emergency shut-off function if someone decided to cover themselves in fuel.

 

[Geezertronic]

Popped down to Costco to collect my new specs. Car was down to the last 50 miles of range so I queued no more than 5 mins to fill up

I visited our local Costco (Coventry) and queued for 10 minutes down the A45 to get into the car park because people were queuing for fuel - I didn't need fuel myself, just wanted to shop. The throughput of the petrol station was quite quick though - I believe they have 18 pumps available. Came out after doing my shop and the queues had disappeared so must have came at the wrong time (close to opening time)

 

[reddragon]

owners of electric cars will be unbearably smug right now

Oh yeah, we are! The internet EVangelists are particularly trolling Toyota and their misleading 'self charging' hybrids (actually Petrol cars)

At work EV drivers are helping to cover essential trips for the fuel starved and I'm also helping various 'in need' drivers. Why not, once you've had the EV experience a legacy car looks so outdated.

This event really puts in context the "what happens if all EV drivers try to charge at once" blah blah blah stories. So, what happens if everyone panic buys fuel then?

As for electricity shortages? The grid is only vulnerable a couple of hours on some 'triad' evening events, mostly in the winter. EVs charge on smart chargers at night when demand is low.

There is a huge positive outcome from this. The demand to switch to EVs is growing exponentially. That can only be good for air quality and the climate. Already you will start to notice that Uber / taxi drivers are swapping the Prius for the MG5.

Do I feel sorry for those is a queue? Yes, but only those who cannot afford a new car even on PCP and those who do not have a drive or worse cannot afford a house, sadly mostly the key workers we all rely on. As for those who can afford to buy a new car or use public transport? Then not really.

 

[nlogax]

As I read today, "the infrastructure just isn't ready to support so many internal combustion vehicles".

 

[reddragon]

As I read today, "the infrastructure just isn't ready to support so many internal combustion vehicles".

Whereas if everyone with a driveway (60-70% of us) bought an EV and could do most trips without charging on a public charger as 95% of us already do and charge at night, we already have the infrastructure.

In public there are already 3082 rapid charging stations with 11076 connectors versus 8000 petrol stations, in addition there's another 25000 fast chargers and of course every home & business has a power socket.

The ONLY infrastructure issues are: -

1 - unreliable chargers on some networks (getting better)
2 - lack of destination chargers for those without a drive.

That's it

 

[341o2]

There's been a few "viral" videos of people using unsuitable containers for fuel... I suspect that may lead to staff shortages at forecourts because when I worked at a petrol station I was told in no uncertain terms that activating a pump without checking that (a) the customer was filling a vehicle or a proper container; and (b) the customer hadn't decided to let little Timmy operate the pump, was a strict no-no.

I've seen videos of two incidents where the person concerned fills up water bottles with petrol. Quote from Sky News

Fuel supply crisis: Woman buys water bottles for petrol​

With some motorists having to queue for hours to get petrol, this scene unfolded at a service station on the M25, where a woman was seen buying water, and then emptying the bottles so she could fill them up with petrol.

 

[reddragon]

I've seen videos of two incidents where the person concerned fills up water bottles with petrol

Petrol reacts chemically with most plastics. You cannot for example lay a water main in plastic through land contaminated with hydrocarbons for this very reason.

 

[SynthD]

The ones I've seen videos of weren't.

But you do bring to mind an issue with unmanned stations- I always assumed they were at least monitored remotely by CCTV, with pumps not activated if there was anything untoward.

I was told that’s the case with manned stations too, that it needs to read your plate before unlocking your pump.

 

[GB]

Whereas if everyone with a driveway (60-70% of us) bought an EV and could do most trips without charging on a public charger as 95% of us already do and charge at night, we already have the infrastructure.

Where have you plucked the 60-70% figure from?

 

[reddragon]

Where have you plucked the 60-70% figure from?

That is the generalised estimate. The most popular quoted figures is that 25% of cars do not have access to a driveway.

There are so many estimates in that region ranging from 60% to 80%, I took the cautious end of the range.



What we do need to start worrying about is rural heating oil supplies this winter. It is usually very bad at the best of times, this winter could be catastrophic for many.

 

[ainsworth74]

I think we're starting to go a bit off-topic here (or at least we're going to end up with two parallel discussions anyway!). I think it might be best to take the electric car discussion to the existing quite lengthy thread on the subject which can be found here and which already covers some of the ground being spoken about!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I was told that’s the case with manned stations too, that it needs to read your plate before unlocking your pump.

More modern systems will have number plate recognition, but many stations still use a system where lifting the nozzle rings a bell behind the desk, for the cashier to activate the pump by pressing a button. In those cases, it's the responsibility of the operator to ensure that the pump is being used as it should be.

 

[reddragon]

More modern systems will have number plate recognition, but many stations still use a system where lifting the nozzle rings a bell behind the desk, for the cashier to activate the pump by pressing a button. In those cases, it's the responsibility of the operator to ensure that the pump is being used as it should be.

My wife's car has an old style number that never registers on number plate recognition systems!

 

[Darandio]

My wife's car has an old style number that never registers on number plate recognition systems!

Potential for a good sideline as a getaway driver there. Even better if it's a Jaguar Mk2!

 

[EveningStar]

owners of electric cars will be unbearably smug right now

In a moment of rare serendipity, on Friday took delivery of a brand new electric car. Ordered a month ago, so cannot decide if I should feel unbearably smug or exceptionally lucky ...

 

[reddragon]

In a moment of rare serendipity, on Friday took delivery of a brand new electric car. Ordered a month ago, so cannot decide if I should feel unbearably smug or exceptionally lucky ...

Enjoy!