Do you fill up on the way to work, during the school run or on bank holidays? If you do, then you’re likely to start paying an average of £1 more per fill up very soon.
Artificial intelligence systems equipped with the ability to charge customers depending on location, demand and even the particular driver have arrived in the UK. They will be used by fuel retailers to make more money from customers who choose to fill up at the busiest times.
The tech comes from Denmark-based a2i Systems. The company is in late-stage talks with petrol retailers in the UK. If all proceeds as expected, the technology will be installed into forecourts within months. One of the leading supermarket brands is close to signing an agreement and will likely be the first to launch.
The new technology could lead to prices shifting several times over the course of a day, with a rise or fall of over 2p per litre (amounting to £1 a tank). The technology is already being used in most petrol stations in the US and Europe, where it is normal for prices to change up to ten times a day.
For those interested, the computer algorithm is modelled on the human brain. It scours databases of customer information to predict how they will behave. If it sees the station is having a busy period, then it will hike prices accordingly, in much the same way that Uber increases the cost of its fares to take advantage of high demand.
Similarly, in quiet periods it could drop prices to entice more customers in. In theory, this could mean that savvy customers who can predict the cheaper times of day for prices could fill up for much less than they are paying currently.
The ones caught out will be those left with no option but to fill up at the busiest times, such as during rush hour or on bank holidays.
Industry experts have mixed views about the new technology and the effect it could have on pricing. Luke Bodset from The AA commented,
“This represents a huge change which would be most unfair on commuters and families. It will wind them up no end as they will become wise to the fact that retailers can exploit price movements.”
PetrolPrices.com’s Jason Lloyd believes that,
“The UK has been behind the rest of the world on dynamic fuel pricing for years, so to hear that a supermarket is planning to do this may trigger the rest of the UK petrol retail market to follow.”
Smart pump pricing will both benefit drivers and frustrate in equal measure, but the logic behind it means that if you are smart about when you buy fuel, you can save money, while those who fill up in peak demand periods will pay more.
It will be interesting for PetrolPrices.com to try to make price comparisons once this type of technology has been implemented. However, we will remain committed to providing our members with an impartial source of price information. The new technology won’t affect that. We’ll let you know which providers are using smart pumps, so you know to expect a fluctuation of around 2 pence every day. As ever, our advice remains the same: use our service to compare prices and ensure you always get the best deals at any time.
Do you agree that these changes to pricing will be unfair to UK motorists in peak driving times, or do you see it as an opportunity to save money? Let us know in the comments below.
It’s just another way for big business to rip off the public. More money for the directors & shareholders, bugger responsible, fair marketing, on what is these days, as essential as water & power
I quote from your article ‘customers who choose to fill up at the busiest times’ – no rational person does that, any more than drivers choosing to use a motorway service station over he pumps at their local supermarket! This is nothing more than wresting a super-profit from the ill-organised and desperate!
The first supermarket to adopt this foul irritating idea will see disgruntled drivers going elsewhere to do their shopping in droves. If we have to pay more for fuel as well as holiday costs when the kids are out of school for example that will really enrage drivers.ANY SUPERMARKETS READING THIS TAKE NOTE.
A petrol station near me already charges different prices on different days, and has done for some time. Welcome to rip-off Britain 2017. Flagrant profiteering.
How the hell does anyone know when peak times are!? No one knows the beginning or end of the so-called rush hour! The same can be said of the “school run”. What’s more, they both take over the majority of both the morning and the afternoon throughout Monday to Friday. So what does that leave us? The weekends! If by some miracle the more savy manage to figure out the best times to purchase petrol, isn’t that going to make those times the busier ones? So what’s to stop the petrol companies from raising the prices at those times too?! Sounds like LOSE LOSE scenario all the way through for the motorist – as usual – and WIN WIN for the petrol companies!
Would that mean when the price of oil drops it will automatically adjust the price .
As Jenny says above when are peak periods they could be anytime they see fit. They should have to post the times when fuel will be dearer, that will p—-s them off. Anything to rip off the motorist and make more money for the fat cats at the top. Fuel is already too expensive. to raise another point with their plans for diesel as well they wont be happy until the everyday driver is no more and we are all walking….If we can. Not me I will be housebound like many others. Also like Michael Davies says above I too will be shopping elsewhere forget the local supermarket.
RIP OFF BRITAIN …………………..Morris you are dead right. What will they think of next!!!
The real reason for this is to prevent online price comparison sites such as this one. If prices are fluid throughout the day it will stop people being able to see the cheapest fuel in their area and using that supplier.
Thanks to this site I use the cheapest supplier in my area – this will stop that
Most people fill up to/from work or school run etc. No one makes a specific trip to fill up.
What a rip off!!
In response to your point about difficulty for price comparison, we are already discussing how this can be presented. Equivalents in markets where prices change 10 times a day manage to reflect accurate prices, all it means it will accelerate our plans to provide a “crowdsource approach” so if a member is at a station and sees the price isn’t correct they can manually update it there and then for the benefit of others.
I noted the sentence ““The UK has been behind the rest of the world on dynamic fuel pricing for years, so to hear that a supermarket is planning to do this may trigger the rest of the UK petrol retail market to follow.” I would say we are AHEAD of the world in having non-profteered petrol prices.
The casual assumption that our current petrol retailing is somehow deficient just becaus suckers in other countries are being ripped off really annoys me. I usually fill up from Tesco’s because they are the cheapest near me, or Sainsbury’s to get extra Nectar points; if they start this, I’m off, good bye!
This is exactly how I see the UK energy market going when we have all let them install smart meters in our homes, they will charge extra at peak times during the day and tell you it is to “smooth” out peaks and troughs in supply provision.Another ripoff ,don’t forget smart meters are not compulsory don’t let them install.
You are right, this is exactly the reason for “smart” meters – to benefit the industry not the consumer
not very green is it. Only the disorganised will make a special trip to fill up. It is encouraging wasteful extra journeys.
Please organise a petition for us to sign and submit to Goverment
The problem is Brits just spend time MOANING online but never DO anything! We just continue to take all this nonsense.
In this age of social media, we should ALL be better organised. Like organising NATIONAL NO CAR days where all those that can do not drive for a day. The press would love that and publicise it, the petrol companies would be hit in the pocket and may actually realise people have had enough.
There is a misconception that they have US by the balls, WE are the ones with the money THEY want. Consider that for a minute. Are ALL the trips you do in the car REALLY necessary?
How many of you contact your MPs regularly and complain about the prices? Those people will do anything for votes if enough people get on to them.
Sorry but whining in here will achieve NOTHING!
What the hell is going on with this country. As if we are not getting ripped off as it is with everything. I mean we nearly all pay road tax which goes up every year and even more so with the new laws regarding road tax for new cars yet the country’s roads are a joke. Pot hole after pot hole. No wonder so many people in country are getting pissed off with the way its run. Greedy fat cat government politicians who only really think about themselves and what they can get out of the british public so they get a nice hefty pension. START THINKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT PAY YOU SO YOU CAN LIVE IN YOUR NICE BIG HOUSES WHICH IS PAID FOR AGAIN BY THE BRITISH WORKING PERSON. What we need is fresh young blood to run this country.
Just another loophole to milk the cash cow. Hit the motorist, it’s a guaranteed income, they’ll pay without question and there’s no competition.
My local BP station already have a way of trying to bypass your price comparison, they have cheap days, and these seem to coincide with the days you check the price .The rest of the time the price is high, these days (high price) never appear on the supplied comparison. I never use this filling station.
It is not always easy to know when a filling station will be quiet so you could finish up paying more just because more people think it would be quiet time to fill up.
This is another rediculas way for companies and bosses to line their own pockets. They do not care about everyday people families who are struggling to live and because they have a car does not make them rich. The government needs to get involved and stop this totally stupid action.
Who willingly goes to fill up at a busy time? This is another rip-off and will just give power to the petrol sellers who hike the price on summer Saturdays and bank holidays already. They already have ANPR so who will be the first to link this with the price at the pump?
Enter the large, the rich and the powerful who provide a service that we have to have and sting us for as much as they can. Isn’t transport expensive enough already?
time to fill up at 3am! noway that be a peek time!
Yes we do need to fight back. Well done PetrolPrices for the idea of crowdsourcing your database so we can update it from our smartphones at each offending pump.
Perhaps you could also produce some stickers that we can slap on the pump before we drive off to find a better service station. As your many contributors above have said rip-off is the word. So how about a design around:
RIP (rip-off pump)
so finda kinda sella
and maybe your website address at the bottom would be a good advert for this service.
This is just another major con by all the supermarkets who decide to jump on this bandwagon to inflate their profits.
They already book a refill of their garages well in advance and pay the going price at that time. I suspect the markup on the original purchase price is the maximum that they are aloud taking into account the basic government taxes anyway. I will certainly stop shopping at any Supermarkets that decide to use this option.
How ridiculous. Rip off Britain at its best. What am I supposed to do, get up from my desk in the middle of the day and just walk out to get fuel as its cheaper. What are peak times, if more people start filling u at lunchtime does that become a peak time too.
This will be really dangerous. People will be bound to not fill up when they see the price as “high” and then run out – possible in the outside lane of a busy motorway!
I for one DO make a special trip to fuel up. There are two major supermarkets within a mile, but up dead end roads, so I have been relying on this site for advice on their prices without having to drive to both to find out.
One way to stop this gross manipulation and flagrant rip off of the consumer is to make it illegal for petrol prices to be changed without at least 24 hours notice to a centralised legally mandated price monitoring database – which can be accessed by the public at any time – and only to allow one update per retail outlet in any 24 hour period
Ian Davies makes an important point, What are peak times? If sufficiently sophisticated technology is used then peak times could be self selecting. The definition of peak time could be when, say, six of eight pumps are occupied, a vehicle arriving to make seven causes a peak time to be started. If I see another user buying unleaded at, say 115p per litre, I am not going to be happy about paying 120p because the forecourt is becoming crowded.
If this was to be introduced I would suggest some mass protests about it. I would be happy to park up at any garage chain implementing this to simply block their forecourt. Imagine that happening all over the country.
We motorists, despit our numbers, seem to be so easily bullied by anyone/everyone.
LG
So does this mean the price you see displayed at the petrol station IS NOT what you pay at the pump ? The system can only benefit the retailer, hardly likely tro be the motorist.
Worse – you start buying at 115 per litre and as you fill it changes to 120 per litre!
Just another example of people getting shat on by big business.
Sick to death of being treated like a wallet by everyone from big business to local councils,just there to supply them with my money.
Jenny Griffin and Michael Davies have just made excellent points – my view exactly as mentioned in my email to petrolprices yesterday (apparently it was too soon for a comment!). I’ll be sticking with Shell next door to my local Asda and filling up when I pass – not wasting a 12 mile round trip to see if I can save a couple of pence (or pay 2p more). Life’s just too short to faff around like that.
So instead of the most efficient way to save fuel of filling up during a journey you have to make, such as on the way to or from work, you are now going to have to make a separate trip to fill up at an off peak time – wasting more fuel. I’m no environmentalist, but this should quite rightly have the greens howling in protest.
Vote with your feet, if any filling station brings in variable prices, go elsewhere.
Could the price change as you fill up? Start filling and it’s 113.99p and by the time you’ve finished it’s 115.99p
Supermarkets in the UK are already ripping off customers by charging different prices in different stores for the same goods. Petrol included. Now with a variable price several times a day on it’s way, it is definitely for the advantage of the retailers and certainly deliberately for ripping off the customers even more at every opportunity.
As long as the German system is adopted it will work. In Germany they use regional hubs to monitor the prices of ALL forecourt pumps every 3 hours but under law they are only permitted to change the prices 3 times a day. This is regardless of fuel company, once again ALL filling stations are told what percentage difference they can change the price to. As I have commented this is regional so it does mean if you live on the boarder of different regions then you have a choice. One other thing to understand is that I have never seen a Supermarket filling station in Germany but there are independent stations which are usually a couple of cent cheaper than the big companies. But regardless of filling station they all change their prices at the same time. And to make it a bit confusing there are 3 grades of Diesel and 5 grades of petrol along with LPG and bio fuels!
Ok – whichever supermarket chain it tuns out to be, loses my custom. I don’t take kindly to companies which use underhand tactics, and the easiest way to fight back is to go elsewhere. Since I normally fill up while making a shopping trip, that supermarket will lose more than just my fuel purchases. I’m sure the rivals will be happy to get my custom!
They have been doing something on these lines in Australia (Victoria) for years but not during the hours of the day. There petrol is cheaper midweek and goes up in price at the weekend. That seems sensible to me. You just fill up during the week, including the evening. Everyone can do that.
This is a wickedly blatant way of further fleecing the consumer and will have a knock-on effect on the cost of everything else.
It’s a scary thought that this could also be applied to any other consumer items bought at busy times. There is no end to the possibilities. I think this system should be outlawed. We don’t all have smartphones with which to outwit this daylight robbery!
When you arrive at said fuel station and pick up the fuel nozzle, if you are not happy with the price on the readout, then put nozzle back and drive away! They will soon learn …
The only benefit I can see is that hopefully transportation companies will take advantage of the cheap times of day, therefore, bringing down the price of consumables. A disadvantage that I can see is that once we get the hang of this system the majority of us will try to go at the cheap times which will then make them the busiest so will they then hike the price up?
Best order my new Nissan Leaf and trade in the Mondeo!
Just one question. WHY ?????????
It’s just an excuse to rip off the consumer, it doesn’t cost the petrol station any more at different times of day, they just pay the same price as when the tanker filled it’s tanks a day or two earlier so why charge the motorist more.
Yet another excuse for petrol companies to rip off motorists. When oil prices drop they don’t pass it on to the drivers. We’re the ones keeping them in business & still they’re not happy about their fantastic profits. If this system comes in the motorist will have his wallet emptied faster.
What would be better is if they charged more to all the people who do their weekly shopping in the shop without moving their car from the pump.
Applying technology for the sake of technology. Certainly not in the overall interest of the consumer. It could be that PetrolPrices.com and social media alerts of cheaper rates defeat the system. A definite candidiate for room 101.
Surely this is little different to the charging policies of airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet where prices can change in the blink of an eye. People may not like the fluctuating prices, but they still seem to travel with these and all the other similar airlines.
Seems sensible to me; there’d be an incentive for some to chose less busy times to fill up. It should then reduce the number of times you have to sit in your car waiting for a pump to come free at peak times, some burning fuel in the process. If the price were to change during the transaction, you would pay the price at the time you start the pump, surely?
I am dead against this, they are only doing it for more profit. Any which way companies can screw us, they will.
It will be interesting to see what my local garage does: his view is that he loses more work wasting time climbing up the ladder to change the prices than he gains from price changes – in either direction. Love living in the country.
This is an invetable use of micro technolgy, information management & easy of change for price boards. I may be behind thinking but with the existance of sites like Petrolprices isn’t a customer credit group a way to counter these developments. It’s only an extension to the exploitation of buying groups in industry that have existed for years, especially in road transport. The bigger the buying group the more influence there is to bring to bear on wholesalers. The supermarkets do it!