6 Ways British and American Gas Stations Are Very Different
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- As the fuel crisis continues in Britain, some have asked me to clarify some of the differences between British and American gas (petrol) stations. Here are six of them.
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True story. In 2017 I had my motorcycle flown from my home state of Alaska to London where a friend of mine picked it up and took it to his place in Hinkley. I arrived a few days later to start my 9 week ride through Western Europe, North Africa and the UK. He had filled it up for me ahead of my arrival and I headed for Plymouth to catch the ferry to Santander SP. I had about an hour to spare before embarking so I figured I’d fill up before loading onto the boat. So I go to a nearby station and grab the black nozzle. Having 3 tanks to fill, I filled the main tank and started on the 1st auxiliary when I noticed the main tank smelled like diesel fuel. I thought that’s odd and looked at the pump. WTH! Now I’ve got 12 liters of diesel in my main tank and the aux tanks flow through it. No way to run the remaining gas in the aux tanks and 30 minutes to get back to the port and onboard the boat! The very nice man at the station allowed me to push it into the car wash pit and drain the tanks out! Sorry environmentalists! Anyway, I filled up again using newly learned English pump nozzle color guide and made it onboard with a few minutes to spare!
You should also mention that in New Jersey and parts of Oregon, it's actually illegal to pump your own gas.
Which is kinda funny when the attendant sets the hold open clip and walks away as if that's any safer than someone walking into the store to buy a drink.
I worked with a guy who moved from Connecticut to Maryland and got hollered at in New Jersey because he assumed he could pump his own gas.
I used to travel to NJ a lot in the 90's. I used to think that law was stupid until the 1st time I needed gas when it was 38 with driving rain. I kinda liked not having to get out at that point.
While I haven't visited every gas station in Oregon, I have never seen any self-service pumps except at the commercial "card-lock" stations for truck drivers. The no self-service is a state-wide law.
That's ridiculous why can't they pump their own gas?
@@richard7crowley In counties with less than 40,000 people in Oregon you can pump your own gas
The dry humour laced with quite rage is almost hypnotic
Typical Britt
In the UK, petrol stations are also sometimes referred to as filling stations.
Some American gas stations are kind of referred to as garages sometimes, if they have a car repair business. I mean, nobody really says they're taking their car to the gas station to get it fixed, but they technically are. A lot less garage owners are selling gas now, though, because they don't want to bother with it because they don't make money on it.
Back in the day they were often referred to as "service stations", as it was not uncommon to have a garage and mechanic there. That has largely gone by the wayside in the 21st Century.
hey hey hey, it went by the wayside in the late 20th century also. And it's only 1/5th of the 21st Century right now. i can't find a segue to something fun, except to say aren't we lucky there ARE NOT flying cars?
ugh... so lame...
I do miss the days when a guy half covered in grease would come out and offer to check your oil. Hoping to sell you a quart, of course.
@@AndyMcGehee hey, question here... did oil just evaporate or something? they didn't remove old oil, so... that's odd?
@@Jim73 It's not odd at all. some engines leak oil, some burn oil from a malfunction in the engine like bad valve seals or broken/worn out rings.
We use to call them filling stations too.
From a practical standpoint, I found petrol stations were much more scarce in UK cities. My coworkers even warned me about this situation when I first arrived from the US. True, there are parts of the US where gas stations are nowhere to be found, but that’s not the typical experience for the majority of the population.
The other thing I found was the layout and arrangement of many stations differ greatly between the two countries, and I suppose a lot of this has to do with placement. Many of the stations I frequented in suburban London or while on the motorways were tucked into pretty compact places and along one direction of travel as opposed to near roundabouts or intersections. Entry and exit in these instances were extremely tight and limited to a single direction to match the direction of travel on the adjacent road or motorway. In the US, as I’m sure you have found, stations are typically on sizable plots near intersections. Drivers approach them from all directions and can leave the same way. US station lots can be very chaotic places at certain times or locations.
Great video. It’s always fun to observe differences between countries and interesting to better understand them.
I remember driving across Wyoming and watching the gas gauge drop lower and lower. I finally found a gas station --and as I pulled up to the pumps, the car coughed and died. I had literally been running on fumes the last few feet.
Our American pumps are color coded? There are so many brand colors and banners on them that i just ignore them... and read the words... ssssshocking, I know!
Same with me.
Same
Same
Yeah, I was never gulled by the colors of the handles.
Never even noticed they were color coded, actually. I guess some minds default to the text.
@@newpinglegend9304 it would be an interesting study, to see how many people know that they're color-coded
I think in America we only call it a garage if it.. also has a garage for servicing cars. Which it sometimes does but not most of the time.
some of us Americans will alternatively use service center, why idk; but regardless the term, like garage, it is only used if and only if the gas station can service (repair/work on) cars, or in some cases use to have the capability.
@@JonBerry555 when i hear 'service center' i'm expecting something cold, heartless, and 40% more likely to efficiently get me my car repaired without screwing me in some way.. but also more likely to make careless mistakes vs the guy that works at a _garage._ that guy you can trust knows how to fix a car.. but like, he's gonna pretend you need a lot more than you do.
In my area of Texas we call places you work on cars shops, and places you store cars garages.
I haven't seen this change much outside of the East Coast, but a 'service station' is a gas station that also provides basic services like tires & fluids, but they can't do advanced repairs for which you need a 'garage' (equivalent to 'shops' the more south, west, and mountain-rural you go)... on the highways there are also some stops called 'service centers,' which are typically a stop that has fuel, food, and bathrooms in one place, and *may* have a service station... and in the U.S. we use garage in this commercial business sense, but we also call the unfinished interior space in a house where you can park your car the garage.
Same in Canada, though usually used for ones those have bays with equipment,
but have long been extinct in my city (not many pumps left now too).
Another confusing aspect is that MPG in the UK is different to MPG in the US, because the US and UK gallon are different sizes. People always forget to convert this and think that US cars are less efficient because a US gallon is smaller, so don't get as many miles out of burning a US gallon (3.7L) of fuel compared to a UK gallon (4.55L) of fuel.
I work for a Canadian company. Most liquid measure is in Litres, but some is still in Imperial gallons.
1:20 As a New Zealander, I can say that, generally speaking, we use the terms "gas" and "petrol" interchangeably, although we probably lean more towards "petrol".
always getting gas from the petrol station.
Benzin - is where its at.
Regards, from Norway =)
@@Human-hs8sp I'm always getting gas from eating beans.
As an Aucklander I always get gas from the gas station.
In the US, a gas station may be called a "garage", but only if they offer full service mechanical work there as well. And those are becoming rarer every day.
Yeah I was gonna bring this up. Actually it wouldn't even have to be a gas station. Garage typically means just a really small auto shop.
It's more profitable to have a separate repair shop.
@@Ulysses_DM_ Yes, but would be nice if those places still sold fuses and the like.
@T Markart I mean I think they have to have gas. So that's a rule.
@T Markart There are no ᴀʙsᴏʟᴜᴛᴇ rules on anything but there is convention
Another difference is the shown octane. The numbers are higher in the uk (and the rest of Europe) but it's not because the have higher octane. They use a different measurement method (RON, as opposed to the US's octane number which is an average of RON and MON). Actual octane is about the same.
I was about to post the same, but did a quick scan to see if someone beat me to it. It is a common misconception that the UK has "higher grade" 99-101 octane available, but in reality is just like you said, the same fuel the US has just measured differently.
Wikipedia says this differs between a lot of countries. I was hoping that maybe this was yet another thing where both countries stubbornly refuse to follow international standards, but nope, there just plain aren't any.
So _that's_ where Rockstar got the RON name idea from...
Actually, regular fuel in the EU _is_ still better than regular US, even taking into account RON and AKI.
95 in the EU (or the "regular" stuff you get in Europe) is 90.7 in the US. 98 would be 93.5.
When was the last time you pumped midgrade or higher in the US? People talk about RON, MON and AKI and never bother to look up actual conversion charts :/.
@@Olivia-W to be fair, I'm usually only comparing premium as it's all I ever buy
As a Canadian ex pat most of this makes total sense.
Interesting side note: in my part of Canada (BC) it's actually a legal requirement to pre-pay for gas.
Yes when they first cam out with that law gas station could be fined $10,000 for let some fuel the vehicle before they paid
I'm sure the fuel prices in Britain are mitigated by the island being similar in size to my home state of Minnesota.
On the latest statistics I can find, there were about 3,200 billion vehicle miles per year driven in the USA and the comparable figure in the UK was 360 billion vehicle miles and, adjusted for population, that means there were about 1.8 times the number of vehicle-miles driver per person in the USA. Then, when you account for the fact that the average UK car will be smaller and slightly newer (average vehicle age is 12.1 years in the USA. 8.4 years in the UK), with a much higher proportion of diesels, then they will use fuel per mile. Put those two factors together and the amount of money spent annually on fuel is probably not that much different.
don't know when you where last in the UK but petrol pumps taking card payments at the pump is fairly common now
Tesco have had it since the nineties.
Tip to avoid static fire: if you have to go back in the car while pumping touch the metal on your car after you get out and before you touch the pump handle, preferably a few feet from it. This will discharge any static electricity into the frame and avoid sparking a fire.
Did UK petrol stations ever give away stuff? Enco (now Esso or Exxon) used to have pitchers and glasses with tigers on them. Very nice quality. The ad tagline was “put a tiger in your tank.”
Yes, I recall my parents collecting vouchers from filling up at Shell here in the UK and with the points getting wine glasses and soup bowls.
Cheap glasses, cheap 'commemorative coins' too, such a Shell doing space race coins. As kids dad had to either drive around for the last few coins for the collection or one or two garages opened the packets so you could choose which coin you needed.
@Nicky L It was a great time for long distance professional drivers (of coaches and lorries); they could equip their kitchens with the freebies from the filling stations, and, of course, they knew where the best offers were. As for trading stamps, I always went for those offering Co-op Dividend stamps. A full book was worth 50p off your shopping at the Co-op, or 60p if you deposited them in your share account. Green Shield stamps were far less convenient because you could only exchange them for goods in one of their special “shops”, which were few and far between, or post multiple books in a parcel to get your goodies by mail order. There were also S&H Pink Stamps, but they were next to useless because hardly anywhere gave them away,
My parents got glasses from Esso for the 88 Olympics in Calgary,Alberta Canada 🇨🇦 i live in Alberta!
Esso in the U.K. used to give away "tiger tokens" with each litre purchased. There was a little catalogue of the things you could exchange them for. I distinctly remember my parents swapping several hundred of the little paper tokens for a cordless telephone. Other stations gave away drinking glasses with every purchase. To people of a certain age the term "petrol station glasses" is still used in a slightly derogatory way to refer to a venue or acquaintance with cheap and low quality glassware.
Filling stations (yes, we've called them that, too) per square mile doesn't mean much--as you point out, Britain doesn't have things like West Texas, the Rockies, or Alaska. But in the UK there are about 8,100 people per petrol station; in the US there is a gas station for every 2,900 people.
Most road out west do have signs that warn you how far it is until the next "Services". Like the one going into Death Valley from Shoshone. 75 miles to Furnace Creek! And the price of gas at Furnace creek probably nearly equals that in the UK. Nice video!
I've encountered that while driving from Rock Springs to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We filled up in Rock Springs and saw a sign in some little town (Pinedale, I think it was) that said something like "Next gas 120 miles". So we filled up at THE definitely high priced station there. At least the sign was honest. There was no way we could have made it without stopping.
There was one of those signs on the road to Fort McMurray in Alberta. You didn't want to run out of gas on the road in the winter.
Were I live there are alot of bridges, tunnels, and bridge tunnels, and they have signs that say something along the lines of "long bridge with tunnel, check gas), and people still run out of gas inside the tunnels, causing massive traffic jams.
We have that here in the more remote parts of Scotland - e.g. 'last petrol for 50 miles' kind of thing , and it is ALWAYS expensive - hence I take jerry cans with me if going off the beaten track .
Many people don't realise how the economy drops in death valley and end up using one of the filling stations in there to get out.
When I was a child in the 60s some corners had as many as three competing stations. A lot of the stations had mechanics to do car repairs, and with "full service " the attendant pumped the gas, cleaned the windows, and checked the fluids.
I remember! I was born in 1959
I remember a spot with two different stations across the street from each other. One station had easier access to the highway and cheaper prices, and still had enough pumps that there was rarely a wait.
The other was always empty.
But it stayed open for years.
We assumed it was a front for organized crime.
Where I grew up there was a station on 4 corners: Standard NW, Phillips 66 NE (mainly for railroad yard vehicles had an above ground tank), Clark SE, Sinclair SW which later became a Marathon. The 70s did away with that. Last I was there only the Clark remained.
Lots of free maps too.
There was an intersection in my hometown in Florida in the 90s that at one point had a gas station on every corner. Nowadays only one remains. Two banks and a Walgreen's took over the remaining corners.
I learned about the gallon to liter conversion the first time I went to Canada. What a shock that was. Also the farthest place between two stations in the United States is in my home state of Utah. Its on Interstate 70 between Salina and Green River. A distance of about 130 miles.
Excepting the really isolated out back where you need to arrange fuel dumps. There are places in Australia where the distance between petrol stations is up to 500km. Mostly though they are every 200km or so.
Did you have any problem with the speed limit being in kilometres rather than miles (I assume). I've read stories about Canadians driving in the States being confused about driving miles/hr vs km/hr.
@@mayloo2137 No I didn't. And the reason is I have driven interstate 19 allot which is in km except for the speed limit. The only one in the United States that way. But when the pump read 89 cents I thought WOW! But it was a shock when I learned it was for a liter not a gallon.
Lawrence, I could listen to you literally talk about anything.
I agree - he makes the most mundane thing sound fascinating
@@susanunger2278 I believe his mom commented on my one comment about how he has been like that since he was a child
@@susanunger2278 And--sometimes--the simplest things sound confusing.
The 'hold open' clip is prohibited in some places in the US. Self-serve is the fueling process in nearly all of the US, but still prohibited in New Jersey. From what I read, Oregon was restricted, but loosened up during the pandemic and now allows self-serve.
Ah, the 'hold open clip'....100 static fires a year....positively dwindles into irrelevance when compared to the number of daft American drivers who leave the gas station with the filler STILL IN THE FAKKIN TANK NOZZLE. Go look at UA-cam. That's why we DON'T allow them in this country. 'Nuff said. You're welcome.
@@iandennis7836 I just keep a split pin on my keyring , all pumps here in the UK still have the holes and the little hook on the trigger
@Derek Heeps....fair enough, you probably don't forget what you're doing. Me, just no way would I even consider indulging in such a practice, each to their own....
Oregon has only required a attendant in counties with over 40,000 people since 2015, and stations with no attached convinence store don't need any staff
American Gas Stations have more convenience stores and restaurants attached as well. The only time I saw that in the UK was at the truck stops or lorry parks.
Lorry parks ?
I've yet to see a UK petrol station without at least a small shop attached to it.
@@RJ-hx5nb In the UK, trucks are usually referred to as lorries and parking lots are car parks...hence the term lorry parks.
You haven't been to a UK gas station in a while, some have small supermarkets like Tesco Express attached, nearly all of them sell stuff like milk, bread and snacks (about the only ones that don't are staff free ones or ASDA supermarket ones)
In the UK a petrol station cannot survive financially just by selling fuel! Profit margin on fuel is quite small, after government tax and fuel company take their share of the money.
I find it fascinating that there are words in American English that originated in Britain that the Brits don't currently use
This has been the way for many years. The UK continuing to move the language on while the US holds it back and doesn't change much itself. It's how I see it.
Many words like that. Garbage is one.
I used to go back and forth between Montana and Missouri twice a year. I learned two things. One, with gas prices the way they were, it cost as much to drive that distance as it did to fly it. Two, when crossing South Dakota, you CAN get from Sioux Falls to Rapid City on a single tank if you get really good highway gas mileage, but you might end up limping into town. Going from Rapid City to Sioux Falls is a bit easier because you get a slight boost when you don't have to travel against the prevailing winds.
White the fuel cost may be just as expensive as flying, it doesnt account for the fact that most people like to go places when they get there and if they didn't bring their car that could cost far more than just having driven. Of course flying may still work if you have friends co-workers or family that can transport you when you get there.
Going from Rapid City to Sioux Falls, you're also going downhill, not by a noticeable incline, but still.
in the uk now we have smaller diesel cars (volvo v40 and such) that can do that journey on a tank full (13gallons) with a couple of hundred miles left over
@@ravennexusmh Assuming a shorter variation of the Missouri-Montana trip just from Kansas City to Billings, thats 1018 miles. Are you saying that those cars can do 1200 miles on a tank?
@@spearamintwolf6225 Sioux falls to Rapid city is around 400 miles, that is what the conversation was about.
Because of the large, mostly empty states, it's probably a better comparison to use gas stations relative to the population or number of vehicles in the country.
Population would be the most fair, since the UK is far more transit-oriented (orientated???).
Alaska alone really screws up the stats .
At the interstate exit I use there are 5 gas stations at the exit. Continuing on about a mile they're building a new one and another mile where I turn off that highway is another one.
As soon as he started talking about stations per sq mi, I immediately thought of Wyoming.
Remember when there were gas stations " downtown "? Or when gas stations only sold gas, oil, or mechanic service but water and air were free?
I am rarely in the UK, but when in France or Germany, I just don't look at the figures on the pump. I chalk it up to being a tourist and that it's going to be expensive! Also: If I tell a Brit that my car is in the shop, they seem to have a strange image of my having driven my car into the front of a commercial establishment.
Oh but, a quick look at a few on the crash videos on UA-cam will soon disclose that (with the assistance of automatic transmissions) there are plenty of American drivers who quite happily do drive their vehicles into shop fronts and even some that take pride in driving right through the building and out the other side.
@@donfink7063 plenty as in dozens or maybe hundreds out of who knows how many tens of millions of drivers?
@@donfink7063 This is part of the reason why I say automatics are dangerous. Seeing wheels still moving and you realise the idiot hasn't even attempted to brake and the auto is doing everything to not stall. A manual will just stop and the compression will reduce movement.
@@forevercomputing As a retired professional (HGV/PSV) driver I've always believed automatics' are inherently dangerous. All to often they encourage apathy/carelessness in drivers, besides giving confidence to the incompetent.
@@donfink7063 As an American, I've often stated that a manual gearbox would be the cure for the common cellphone.
Laurence, you are showing signs of being away from Blighty for too long. We've had pay at pump for decades, though it has taken longer to get out to rural areas and there's still the odd one that doesn't take it. We also have pumps at some petrol stations where you can set how much you want to spend, £10, £15 etc.
I live in southern England (Sussex), and very few of our local petrol stations have pay at the pump. The wife and I drove to Devon this past week, and none of the stations had pay at the pump. Perhaps pay at the pump is more common northwards.
Yeah where I live we don’t have many. I live in the south.
I only know of one station with pay at pump near me (midlands) but there is no pre set limit for it.
@@SussexYank Exactly, so the information given isn't incorrect. They do exist, but I believe people prefer pay in the shop.
Pretty much every supermarket I know has pay at pump. I'm in the Midlands.
Sure do miss the days of the gas wars - each station/garage would fight for your business by having all sort of free giveaways. Glasses and dishes are the ones I remember best. Of course those stations also pumped your gas, checked your oil/tires, washed your windows. I am sure there are some here who were not yet born when we enjoyed these 'full service' stations. Cheapest gas price I can remember was 18 cents/gallon - we will NEVER see that again. :)
While I cannot say I have ever pumped petrol in GB, I did experience sticker shock when I was in Iceland - they also use liters vs gallons and believe me it made me shut up about the prices here in the US.
Oh I remember those days! My daddy had a company car with our last name as the license plate. I could go to a little service station near daddys shop and get gas in that car for free! Well, daddy paid for it, but still. If i had my own car it was 25 cents a gallon. The worst though were the gas shortages of the 70s. Every other day according to your license plate last number. Having a commute to college even in my little car could get me running on empty.
I remember 15c a gallon…… also w some of the perks listed above, you could get s& h green stamps or blue chip stamps. You then saved them in books; then went to their stores & redeemed them for various merchandise; top of the line stuff too.
In Australia before the late 90s, fuel was less than a dollar. Never again.
I still use "gas station glasses" my parents collected when I was a child. They also collected Green Stamps. In an era immersed in instant gratification, I don't think we'd have the patience now to collect stamps for months or years to get relatively small rewards. I remember the great debacle when gas prices went over $1 and the pumps had no way to register such a big number. I also remember the mesmerizing ritual of watching the windshield being cleaned. You never had to get out of your car for anything. As an aside, I did see a gas pump on fire once. Sheer panic. I'm grateful the people who design gas pumps anticipate this and apparently make them idiot proof so they don't explode.
@@BadWebDiver yeah it seemed to jump from around 90c to 120c and stayed above there. It did dip below A$1/L in April or May 2020 but no one was driving! I think I got one tank at 95c/L with the RACQ discount.
Back in 1985, while I was in the US Air Force and stationed in the UK, I bought a car from a guy on base, a 1980 Ford Pinto to be specific, and had some interesting experiences fueling up at petrol stations. Specifically, since this was an American spec car, I had to adapt to the idiosyncrasies of being in Britain. For instance, the fuel cap was on the driver's side, i.e., the opposite side of the car from the typical British car would have it. If I was pulling into a larger station, or the one on base, no problem, but for the little B&B on the way to Ipswich, I had to pull in through the exit and point my car in the opposite direction from where it was supposed to face. Additionally, although my car had the catalytic converter removed (Britain didn't have unleaded fuel at the time), it still had the filler restrictor just inside the filler tube (a little history: Back in the days when you could still get leaded and unleaded gasoline, the nozzles at the pumps for unleaded fuel were smaller in diameter than the older nozzles for the leaded gas. Additionally, a metal bit was added to the filler tube to restrict which type of fuel nozzle you could insert, to keep folks from using the usually cheaper leaded fuel in their "unleaded only" cars, and thus ruining the catalytic converter). Again, my car had the catalytic converter removed, but the restrictor was still in place, and all UK petrol pumps had the larger pump nozzles, so I found myself having to make a makeshift funnel out of an old STP fuel additive bottle.
Bentwaters? Met some of the people there many years ago. Our neighbour for a couple of years was a Chief Master Sargeant in computers. Nice guy.
PINTO!
Pumped gas during the 80s, when leaded fuel was still around. Recall someone using a modified nozzle from a plastic gas (jerry) can as an adapter between the pump nozzle and his fuel inlet. With the gentle taper, offered a snug fit and didn't affect the "tank is full" sensor, even if left running clipped open (while checking the oil e,g., cleaning windshields or there's other cars. Btw, this customer came out to set it up himself).
Cars in Britain do not have a favoured side for the petrol filler. Some are on the left, and some on the right. There is actually a discreet arrow on the petrol gauge telling the driver which side has the filler.
@@mandolinic The discreet arrow thing is also a myth.
01:46 Garage is used here to describe automobile repair businesses as well, which typically accompany gas stations. But taking your car to the garage means it's broken, not low on fuel.
Here in my little township we have 4 and very soon to be 5 gas stations in less than a mile. It’s insane especially when one considers the push toward electric cars by the big automakers.
@@laurie7689
I do love EV tech, but it is not as viable as major automakers are making it out to be. One or more of the big three will very likely go bankrupt pursuing an EV future, and Americans aren't as enthusiastic about the concept of too big to fail. Unfortunately, executives have been persuaded by PR that EVs have to be the future and plan to be out of the industry long before any downfall.
ua-cam.com/video/yR2lgxy-htU/v-deo.html
It's funny you brought up hurricanes, that is the type of thing that will eventually lead to a backlash against EV tech. There is no practical way to quickly evacuate Miami, even with a week's notice. Oil is way more plentiful than most people realise, and the electric infrastructure, within the US anyway, makes even low double digit EV adoption unsustainable. With current and foreseeable tech, a loaded semi can travel about 300 miles on the equivalent of a small apartment's monthly energy consumption. OTR trucking is almost certainly not going to EV tech for quite a while, if ever, and this means that diesel should remain relatively cheap and widely available for those interested in an ICE vehicle going forward. Expensive gasoline is artificial and economically unrealistic for the US though.
@@laurie7689
I agree.
One job I had during my college days was as a gas station attendant in Laramie, WY. Laramie sits on Interstate 80, 45 miles (75 km) west of Cheyenne. From there, I-80 runs about 100 miles to the next city of Rawlins. There is no gas between Laramie and Cheyenne. My station was the first stop off of the first exit from the interstate (if you were headed west), and at least once a month I'd have a customer who managed to get as far as the summit before running out of fuel, and then coasted downhill for the last 8-10 miles.
My dad filled up his diesel pickup with regular gas because of BP’s green handles. He’s held a bit of a grudge ever since.
I've had to double check a couple times myself
I really hope BP conforms to the (US) norm soon. It is even more confusing with Yellow for "mostly ethanol fuel" (85% is typical) and Blue for "just a little extra ethanol" (15% is typical). I've even seen a red handle used for "No ethanol added" and it was *expensive* !
I personally fill up at Sheetz and buy the "U-88" which is a 15% ethanol gasoline with an 88 octane rating. City driving is definitely worse fuel economy, but highway driving is usually the same.
--
Side rant: Ethanol fuels on the eastern seaboard are actually more expensive. The reason it is cheaper at the pump is because your tax money is subsidizing the cost. So you've already paid for that fuel once whether you use or not. It is freaking silly.
I can scarcely believe that isn't regulated by Federal law, like the colors of the various kinds of fuel.
Did he not notice a difference in the size of the nozzle? Diesel usually has a larger diameter.
@@JV-pu8kx That's a commercial diesel pump vs a multi-fuel (traditional) pump.
You can find that difference at a single station. Not just country vs country.
Hence the reason I love living on the east coast of the USA. Even in small towns, like where I live in rural Delaware, it's nothing to have two or more gas stations within a "city" block of eachother. No long walks for me! LOL 🤣
That's not just the East coast. Most large suburbs are laid out on 1-mile grids, and there are typically one or two at each intersection.
On the other hand, if you run out of petrol in the UK, it's likely safer to catch a ride with someone into the next town to get some
@@LindaC616 Eh, I'd say it's quite safe here, with chances for it not being safe.
@@richardsbrandon5027 that was my experience in Ireland, but since I've only ever been to Scotland, didn't want to speak for all of UK
@@LindaC616 And I'm talking about America, :)
But yeah, I see your point.
I worked at a full-service gas station for years in the 1990s, and I've never heard the term "hold open clip" before! I think we just called it a handle clip or handle lock.
I've always called it a "handle lock", too. Never heard the term "hold open clip", but then it is something used more than discussed.
I've never heard of this clip. I believe they're illegal in the entire European Union.
@@martijnspruit They're not. We have them in Romania (and I think Bulgaria and Hungary have them too).
Adding to your comment about the pumps. In the UK unless you pay by card at the pump , you pay after filling up. In the US you pay before pumping. In the UK when you lift the nozzle the pump tells the person at the till you are ready to start pumping. In the US you have to manually lift the lever on the pump.
I was visting England on holiday in 1993. We were traveling from London down to Brighton and then out to Lands End. We were in some little town along the way when the car needed to be refueled. I stopped and asked a group of people, who happened to be outside, where I might find a gas station. They all looked at me with a quizzical look and in fact one of them said "a gas station?". I repeated "yes, a gas station", enthusiastically pointing back at the car. In my mind I knew there was some kind of communication breakdown, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Suddenly out of some crevasse in my mind popped the word petrol. 😳.
They must have been thick or just messing with you. I can’t believe there’s many Brits who don’t know Americans call it gas.
@@nickmoore385 @Nick Moore well, keep in mind this was a very rural area. I think it was a genuine confusion about the word used by each of us for automobile fuel. There are just certain things that are known by different words depending on your home country (or even region for that matter). If someone from the UK had come over here and told me he needed to use the loo, I would have had no idea what he needed (pre, my visit). Chemist = pharmacy, chips = fries, crackers = noise makers, biscuits = cookies.
I tend to call them fuel stations now as they do petrol, diesel, 'real' gas. No doubt they'll be doing big batteries for EV's one day.
@@nickmoore385
Exactly, it's no different than a "Brit" in the US asking where is a Petrol station is. Just about every American would know exactly what they meant .
I don't think I've ever gone back to sit in my car while the gas is pumping, but I use the time waiting to squeegee my windows.
Well in New Jersey your car sit in your car no self service . Attendant pumps it for you . It is illegal to pump your one gas in NJ
@@josephcronin4209 That scared the daylights out of me! I had no idea of that law, and got out and started pumping, when someone directly behind me yelled, "Hey what'r ya doin'?" I screamed, he screamed and I spilled the gas. Lesson learned. I've never been back to NJ lol
@@josephcronin4209 Wow, I didn't know that happened anywhere anymore.
@@josephcronin4209 I found that to be so odd when we moved to NJ when I was in high school -- I'd been pumping gas since I was eight or nine, and now it's suddenly illegal? Weird. And as far as service goes, pumping gas is all they do...
@@jeffmalone5557 NJ and Oregon you can't pump your own gas. Although Oregon has laxed a bit- depending on how small the city is and if it's after certain hours. But they are constantly changing things so I don't know if and where that still stands. I know they temperarily suspended the law during the insane 100°+ heatwave we had at the end of June for the health of the attendants.
It was crazy to hear that the U.S. has 1 gas station every 33 square miles. I did some quick math, and if you don't count Alaska, that number goes down to about 1/18mi². I know there are people and gas stations in Alaska lol. But Alaska is so sparsely populated that I believe it skews the numbers. Even at 1/18mi², that is a great reminder that most of this vast country is rural. I live in a city where there are gas stations everywhere, sometimes two or three at one intersection lol.
Take out Texas and it will go down even farther!
We do have stations in Alaska and most of the main routes have stations open year round because enough people travel through like traveling the Parks Highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage. However, if you are planning to travel down to the Lower 48 in winter, you had better be sure you plan. There are many stops that close for the winter.
@@elsiestormont1366 Understood. But there are more gas stations in Delaware (about 420) than all of Alaska (about 350), despite Alaska being over 300 times the size of Delaware. That's why I say Alaska skews the numbers. Alaska is the biggest state by a landslide, but has the fewest gas stations. Most states have thousands.
@@elsiestormont1366 But now I have like 30 questions I want to ask you lol. Do a lot of Alaskans travel south for winter? That sounds like one heck of a road trip 😲
@@Aiko2-26-9 Actually it wouldn't! Texas is huge, but they have almost 14,000 gas stations!
Hi, I’m Colin from the UK. When I was 16 (1970’s) I was a petrol attendant and I served petrol into customers cars.
We had hold open catches on the triggers so we could check fluid levels for the customers whilst they filled up. Never had a problem as they always cut off in time. Now I’m involved in fuelling yachts and motor cruisers and we still have the catches.
A large motor boat can take on 3000 plus litres of diesel taking over 3 hrs to fill up, imagine holding the trigger for that long!
Thanks for the channel
Petrol, short for petroleum is an inclusive term to the portion of crude oil that will be refined into gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc. So brits are more correct to call it a petrol station but Americans, Canadians and the Kiwi's, are more correct to call the stuff they put in their vehicle gasoline (or diesel as we do).
Kiwi here. We use petrol. We almost never use the terms gas or gasoline
I used to be able to buy kerosene at a US service station, but that was a very long time ago.
ozzies are a confused bunch, glad you didn't mention them :P
My petrol station story is in regard to the inconvenient location of the closest station to Heathrow Airport for refueling a rental car. As a Yank, I was completely flummoxed by driving from the wrong side of a car on the wrong side of the road. I returned my rental car to the airport without refueling and was glad to pay the exorbitant refueling service charge so I didn't have to drive another foot on the wrong side of the road. The rental office refused to accept the car without a full tank. After unsuccessfully arguing that I couldn't find a fueling location, I set out to get diesel. (The rental car was a diesel powered Audi.) As I recall, I found the petrol station without much distress but returning to the airport was a nightmare of taking the wrong exit of two roundabouts multiple times (roundabouts didn't exist in my area of the USA at that time and rotate in the other direction now). By the time I got back to Heathrow, I was ready to slice open an artery and be done with my misery. I didn't miss my flight but I vowed to never drive a vehicle if I returned to England.
I'm sorry your experience was less enjoyable than mine have been. In my three holidays in the UK I have driven over 4k miles and have never had any issues...and I've always driven manuals. I guess I'm more adaptable, but I love driving. I'm heading out to take my MG for a spin before work. Ciao.
I feel exactly the same driving in the US. Especially coming in or out of Tampa or Orlando airport. Ugh. I guess we're all most comfortable with what we're used to. Mind you, Heathrow (and for that matter, London in general) is not an easy place to drive in.
Here in New Zealand we also mostly call it petrol, although we sometimes refer to Gas Stations rather than petrol stations. We also sometimes call them service stations or servos for short. We don't really use the term gasoline at all.
When i was a kid in the US, gas stations were frequently referred to as filling stations and you didn't pump your own gas. An attendant pumped your gas, checked your oil and cleaned your windshield (windscreen). Air and water were free and there were several air/water hoses, not just one like it is today.
Air and water are free in Australia
But the people aren't
New York State, among others, prohibits the use of hold open clips. Annoying in the winter.
precisely when they're most dangerous, winter. drier air = greater static build-up if you get back in your vehicle while pumping, greatly increasing the chance of a spark igniting the fumes leaving your tank when you get out to remove the pump handle.
And, oddly enough, the state of Oregon prohibits filling your own car up!. The attendant will come out and do it, by law....No exceptions, state-wide....
Hell, annoying in the summer. I use the hold open clip, so I can go about cleaning the bugs off my windscreen (UK reference :) ).
@@chrisbitner7000 That hasn't been true for several years now. Many counties in OR have self-service.
It's only NJ now that is 100% full-service, no exceptions.
That used to be true, but in recent years, they allow them. Only a small fraction of gas stations have actually installed the clips since then, though.
Having used the 'hold open clip' regularly in the US - I remember being home in Ireland once and finding one on a petrol handle in Dublin - my sister was very surprised when I set the pump going and then sat back into the car to wait - I think the thing was small enough on the handle that nobody knew what it was or how to use it.
I think this is part of the reason why I almost always fill the tank up all the way when I fuel up. It's just easier to set the clip and then it stops itself when the tank is full.
It's definitely handy (forgive the pun) but I never walk away from the pump after setting it. As a machinist, I see perfectly functioning mechanical devices fail every day. I don't want to walk back to the pump one day and see $50 worth of gas on the pavement, or much worse, a fireball where my car used to be.
Correction - New Zealand like Australia DOES NOT refer petrol as gasoline (Australian slang for service station is servo - just a thought) Australia and New Zealand also use "hands free" clip!
In the UK leaded petrol was red and you could buy red jerry cans for when you ran out and fill up by the side of the road. When they introduced unleaded fuel (which was "better for the environment" and therefore "greener") they introduced green cans. I can't remember when they colour-coded the filling nozzles.
I’m so glad you came into our lives. Lol Please don’t get angry with me Brits but you guys really misunderstand how and why we do many things as Americans and it leads to a gross characterization of our behaviors and the way that we live. It’s great that we have a Brit namely Lawrence that lives here and can make some things understood about life in America.
I agree with you and that is why as a Brit, I follow Laurence. It does work both ways, of course. I get rather disappointed that the UK at large is ignored and people get the impression that it is all like London and the south east. As a northerner, Heaven forbid! 😂😂🇺🇸🇬🇧🇬🇧👍
@@torfrida6663 Ask away if you wanna know anything about life here & Quora!
Brandon Donald Richards Thank you. Most kind. 🇺🇸🇬🇧👍
Cannot tell you how many Brits I’ve come across who have stupidly said “wHy Do AmErIcAnS cAlL iT gAs WhEn It’S a LiQuId,” not understanding it’s just shorthand for gasoline. Not to mention a lot of Spanish speakers also use “gasolina” so it’s more than just some English speakers
@@Ryan-cb1ei So true, That’s like the air conditioning question. Why can’t you guys just open a window? Really! Lol Some can’t get why we celebrate Thanksgiving. I’ve heard them say “Why do you guys have Christmas twice”? Because we have turkey twice. Little do they know many of us have ham. Lol It’s not Christmas we don’t give presents and have Santa Claus during Thanksgiving. Lol It’s crazy! 😂
We have the hold-open clip enabled here in Luxembourg, but you mustn't just walk away from it which I never understood until now, so thanks for that. I do miss it when I drive back to the UK.
Legally your not supposed to walk away from the pump in my state in USA, (Pennsylvania). Nobody ever follows it though, lol, your also legally required to stop your engine, but when its cold out, rarely does anyone follow that one either. In fact, I think nobody even bothers to read the big sign at the pump from the fire marshal, or they just don't care.
Anybody else wonder why we keep calling it unleaded 35 years or so after it was no longer possible to buy leaded gas at a regular gas station in most parts of the country? Inertia, I guess. BTW, I really like your dry, humorous narrative! You get a new subscriber.
One small note at the end. There are places in the US where running out of gas can be life threatening. Wyoming, Montana, New York City.
One time when I was driving from Northern Illinois to the Grand Canyon, I encountered a biker along the way. We inadvertently traveled “together” for a few hundred miles and when we both stopped at a gas station in a really isolated area, I was just going to get some caffeine and move on. (My car still had about a half a tank.) He kindly said to me, “Just so you know, the next gas station along this stretch isn’t for about 150 miles. You might want to top off your tank.” I was like 🤯 👍🏻❤️
In the more desolate parts of Nevada, gas stations may be 150 miles apart. And they close for the night. In the morning, there may be a dozen cars parked in the open field across the road, sleeping, waiting for the gas station to open.
I have an extra large fuel tank in my truck and can go almost to Denver on a tank of diesel.
It’s good advice always to start a drive through wilderness with a full tank. People who live in urban areas tend to take for granted that gasoline is never very far away, so will run their tank down to 1/4 or less.
Paying at the pump is actually very common, maybe the older stations don't have it but you can even pay by app now at Shell 😃 🇬🇧
Yep, and Exxon Mobil and BP too.
Pay at the pump is theoretically very common around here but I've yet to encounter one that actually works, though some do take your demographic data before telling you to go see the cashier.
Yes, I was going to say pay at the pump is an option at most U.K. petrol stations now. I can, however, never work out how to use my supermarket loyalty card with them to get points for my petrol so end up going to the cashier when filling up at Tesco or Sainsbury’s.
Edit: many thanks to the people who have replied to this, I did get it to work!
I've seen some Shell stations in Northern Colorado that now accept cash at the pump.
@@mrexplore148 only refuelling at Tesco for the clubcard points so you can get a free pub meal. Classic brit 😅
In the American Western and Mid-Western states if you see a sign advertising "Last Gas for 120 Miles" etc.? Check your fuel gage because it's not a joke.
In NZ we call them petrol stations.
Ironically enough we do have a petrol company called GAS which is an acronym for "Garage Automotive Services" even though, seemingly none, do any service other than taking your money and selling you mince and cheese pies.
Not being able to pay at the pump is becoming rarer in the UK. All supermarket "filling stations" (35% of stations) have pay at the pump and some exclusively so. The other independent stations still have some that are exclusively pay at the kiosk but each passing year it is becoming less and less so. Also the UK like several other West European nations has a shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers, but does actually have enough gasoline truck drivers who hold an additional qualification to deliver fuel.The fuel shortages are totally because of panic buying, after media scaremongering, when about a dozen filling stations were reported low on fuel due to missed deliveries because a few drivers were quarantining with positive covid tests. Once the panic buying started no amount of deliveries could keep up with the demand. Fortunately there is a limit to how many gallons of fuel drivers can store in their cars ( unlike the panic buying of toilet rolls over a year ago) so the crisis is already starting to come to an end.
We had people filling the plastic grocery bags with gas! The company had to get on twitter to tell them it was too dangerous!!! smh!
Just like the toilet paper hoarding in the US due to media lies. And the gasoline hoarding for a minute back in May due to the pipeline hack lie.
curious how one hordes petrol. Personally, we own multiple gas cans for all the equipment to maintain our land (4 acres or 1.6 hectres). I wouldn't think that people in UK would own multiple petrol cans.
@@christaverduren690 Plastic grocery bags? How the heck would that hold liquid? Can't believe that was done by the masses. Just some weird individual....
@@kathyp1563 yes there are strict limits of just 2 metal and 2 smaller plastic fuel cans. So the panic buying had a natural limit which is why it was so short lived.
To me, the biggest perk to US gas stations is the bucket of soapy water and a window squeegee. It's the little things.
Do they not have that in the UK?
you mean a bucket full of black scummy water and the grit encrusted remains of what once might have been considered a squeegee.
@@Plasmacore_V Beat me to it. Don't forget the 3 pounds of floating bug remains.
@@Plasmacore_V grim, I must have been lucky!
@@Plasmacore_V LOL, I've not had that happen.
Now I’m not able to drive, I found it fascinating. What I would’ve liked to also hear, is that American gas stations are also known as junk food palaces. And I would’ve liked to of heard a little bit more about that from the UK perspective. Example, I think it was you or somebody else that talked about how pharmacies in the UK do not have snacks or any kind of food at all. Here in the United States, the pharmacy holds everything but the kitchen sink.
Paying at pump is more common in the UK these days, especially at larger filling stations or supermarkets filling stations.
When I was a kid in the 60s, gas stations were called “service stations”. They checked your oil automatically, and washed your windows, checked the air in your tires, checked your water level in your radiator, as well as and filling your tank with gasoline. If you were really lucky you would earn points to get free glass tumblers or crappy flatware for your eating pleasure! Here in Oregon they at least still pump your gas for you.
Hello, someone from New Jersey here. We still also pump gas for customers as mandated by law. I believe how the law is worded is that "Self-serve gasoline stations are unlawful" or something in more legal speak, heh. Last I had heard Oregon stopped doing this though? I guess I heard wrong?
I had actually worked at a gas station up until two weeks ago. I just moved out of state, but that's besides the point.
@@Matando It's relaxed in rural parts of Oregon where keeping a station open all night was burdensome. In some cases you would have to call the police to have them override the pumps so that you could get gas if you were traveling at night. As someone not used to having gas pumped it's very nerve-wracking to not be able to fill up if you travel after work.
@@EnglishProfStyle ahh. Yeah in NJ, at least at the station I worked at, there was no security on the pumps. They were programmed the same as the ones in our stores out of state. Lots of people, mostly people using company cards and whatnot, just got out of their cars and did it themselves. We never made a fuss about it (unless they were super rude, lmfao) because we still got paid the same.
Having the *option* for full service at a gas station would be nice, but at no point would I tolerate not being allowed to pump my own gas.
You can trust your car
To the man who wears the star.
The big, bright Texaco star!
ua-cam.com/video/b1zxOTDHIBQ/v-deo.html
There used to be "garages" all over the US too. A garage, also known as a service station, was a gas station that also did auto repairs. When not repairing cars the employees pumped gas. Then by and large and outside certain states the biggies in the industry decided to switch to the self-serve business model. The garages shut down because they didn't make enough money to have paid staff on hand just in case someone needed auto repair.
The big change was in the reliability of vehicles and the tyres. A car in the 1960's needed oil at around 500 miles, now my car needs none between services. Tyres once needed pumping up every week, now the recommended period between chacks is one month for most cars. With every car car having built in screen washers even the 'courtesy screen clean ' has become redundant.
Another factor in the UK is that petrol , until last week, had dropped in cost v Wages by nearly 30% since the 1960's. It has never been so cheap, therefore little profit for the service stations per gallon.
The fuel cost also goes some way to explaining our different tastes in cars....
In the US, when I was growing up, we used the term "filling station" interchangeably with "gas station." They were mostly full-service stations. You pulled up to the pump, a uniformed attendant came out to greet you, you said "Fill 'er up" and sat relaxed while the attendant filled your tank, checked under the hood (bonnet) -- oil, etc. -- and then cleaned your windshield (windscreen). You also went there periodically to have your car "serviced" -- oil change, lube, tire rotation, etc. I've only ever visited one English petrol station (somewhere between London and Oxford), decades ago; it seemed much the same to me, down to and including the clean toilets (which in the old days in the US were occasionally advertised by a sign saying CLEAN REST ROOMS).
one thing is also the size of the holding tanks for fuel. In most states the underground tanks are 10k US Gall (45400L) with 4 tanks per location white in the UK they a reusually no large than 4500 US gal ( 22000L)
Cobham services on the M25 has a storage capacity of 1.3m litres = 350k US gallons.
Btw, 1 US gallon = 3.7 litres. 1 UK gallon = 4.5 litres
@@MyMednas wow. That huge.
I love that you are able to make a living off of this.
How do you know he doesn't have a day job?
@@stefanfrankel8157 I think he said at one point this is his full time gig.
@@stefanfrankel8157 I think he said so. I believe he said he quit x consulting job to do UA-cam full time.
at 100k subs you can start to make a living, at 300k you can make a living on YT
Paying for petroleum is easier in New Zealand, I use pay by plate-just drive up, the security cameras register your position and the pump says “Welcome name”, just fill up and drive away-it automatically appears on your credit card. So fast I’ll never go back to swiping my card through a reader.
Also, in the US I've seen black, blue, and red used for ethanol-free gasoline. I have to double check because sometimes there's ethanol-free, diesel, and E10...
Thanks for another informative video! A great installment for those of us with plans to visit the otherside of the pond!
Very interesting. When I started driving gas was 20 cents a gallon. Thanks for sharing.
In the UK, while counter transactions do happen, many larger supermarket fuel stations also have pay at pump. I don't know if its still the same but when I went to Florida (hired a car) and went to fill it up, I couldn't get the pump to start. It wasn't until a man came over and showed me how that I thought the USA was real quaint! Of course, in the UK all you do is pull the nozzle off the pump stand and it starts the pump motor running ready for the fuel to be dispensed.
Gasoline and Soccer are 2 words the British changed their minds about. I learned a lot from you. Plenty of other words that mean something else in UK or GB.
Gas stations in the US used to have a "Full Service" line up until the early 1990's where an attendant would pump your gas, check your oil level, clean your windows, and check your tire pressure. They all went away as minimum wage rose. In Oregon your still not allowed to pump your own gas but the attendants don't do anything other than that.
In the East, it's New Jersey where self-service is illegal. I remember in Pennsylvania having "Full service" as an option, but that was still just pumping your gas. And I haven't seen that option in years.
@@SuprousOxide True, one of the many reasons why I hate driving in New Jersey. I'd rather pump my own gas, thank you.
Oh, remember I think it was last year when Oregon (maybe it was Washington) did away with their own full service laws and went to self serve? Their residents about lost their damn minds over it, full panic.
@@daggettbeaver242 That's cool I guess. But the media/internet/twitter hoard certainly spun it that way when it was first announced.
What’s the reason you can’t fill up your own cars?? Something I just don’t understand being from the uk.
@@mdx7460 Idiots & gov regulation.
Lawrence, you never disappoint.
There wasn’t a fuel shortage in the uk until people thought there was. It’s still hard to get to the pumps at some times
Exactly, there was no fuel shortage until one company said they may have to close a few petrol stations because of driver shortages. Then everyone misinterpreted it as "we're all running out of fuel" and caused everyone (almost) to panic and cause the fuel shortage.
"Hold open clips " were once also on American gas pump nozzles . However, they have been long removed for obvious safety reasons when self pumping stations became the norm.
Hi Lawrence, I live in New Zealand. We know what you are talking about when you refer to petrol as gasoline, but it is seldom
called gas in this country. The place where you go to buy it is called a Petrol Station or Garage as in Britain. Our pumps are also coded the same way that they are in Britain, but we also have the little hold open leavers you described for the US.
Yeah its rare for someone to call it a gas station. Most common is service station or petrol station. Its also a rarity to have a garage attached to a service station these days.
I agree, petrol is petrol not gas, while gas is e.g. LPG/CNG the air we breath (H, O, He, N etc.) Note: LPG is basicly liquified petol fumes (vapor)!
I live in Auckland and I've always called them gas stations, as do most people I know.
@@cadifan That's interesting, it's looking like maybe there's a divergence between the Auckland area and the rest of the country then, terminology-wise.
@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 I have to say, the doublethink required to call a liquid "gas" is a bit of a leap for a foreigner. I used to get very confused reading American books when I was a kid when they would fill up their cars with gas. I had visions of them floating off up into the sky.
While I was watching this, I was thinking I'd like to see the same kind of videos, only from the perspective of a Brit in Australia, or New Zealand, or Canada. Enjoy seeing how different cultures have developed, especially when the dominate culture derived hundreds of years ago from British who colonized new areas of the world.
In a lot of ways Australia follows the British model but has some unusual US twists. Because most of our population lives near the coast, if you want to travel inland you may have to carry extra fuel with you because a full tank will not get you to the next town (or farm). Most of our terminology is UK but most of our media is now US. I'm starting to hear people say sidewalk instead of footpath and gas instead of petrol. We now often say apartments instead of flats or units and elevators instead of lifts. We are still part of the 1% of people who drive on the correct (left) side of the road. We do have some unique points. We are one of the few countries that has compulsory voting. If you don't vote and don't have a good reason you either pay a fine or maybe even go to gaol (jail if you are from the US). In some areas we still have rules which say school classes are halted if the temperature goes over 110F (43C) because the only electricity comes from generators.
@@OzSteve9801 That bit about the spelling of 'gaol' just jumped out at me Steven. Here in the UK I think either is technically correct, but _jail_ is very the dominant modern spelling and _gaol_ comes across at the more 'antiquated' version. Notorious highwayman Dick Turpin would've gone to gaol. Oscar Wilde was probably sent to gaol. Criminals today however would generally be regarded as going to jail!
Having lived in NZ for a time, I was amused that 'footpath' for the pedestrian walkway alongside a road is actually a 'third option' specific to Antipodeans. Whereas Americans would call it a sidewalk, Brits know it as a pavement, so you've got your own unique version there - and it's a shame to hear it's being eroded by the incursion of "sidewalk". I guess it's the predominance of US media that makes American terminology slip into the lingo both Down Under and here in Britain, particularly among younger generations.
The Australian/NZ perspective would be a bit similar to the UK, with some exceptions. The Canadian one would be almost identical to an American one. I think people, especially foreigners, don’t understand how similar America and Canada can really be. Canada greatly benefits from this by pretending they’re not like Americans, dodging a lot of criticism and negativity, even though in many parts the two seem almost identical…
I am in Australia. Just about every car I have had has been dual fuel. That is Petrol tank and LPG (autogas) tank. So when I fill up, I use either petrol (unleaded) or gas (LPG).
Alot of the older LPG nozzles also had the hold open function as it was slower to fill and the nozzle could get cold from the temperature of the gas pumping.
1 of the problems of filling up LPG was dependent on either where the tank was on your vehicle (in boot versus under car) as well as if service station had above ground versus below ground LPG storage tanks. On hot summer afternoons - there were occasions I could not fill up a empty LPG tank as either the LPG tank on car was hot enough the air in the empty tank had expanded not allowing LPG to enter it, or the storage tank itself was lower pressure than the car tank.
My current car has a 65 litre Petrol tank and a 70 litre LPG tank. Both full adds alot of weight to the back of the car - especially the solid metal LPG tank in a protective 'bathtub' that sits behind the rear diff but in front of the rear bumper. Dangerous ? HELL YES - But I accept that risk. It does however add alot more strain to the rear suspension and can even drag over steep driveways so a smart owner would have had the rear suspension upgraded to take the extra weight.
Thank You.
I grew up in the early 1970s...many gas stations were "full service". An attendant would greet you and you'd tell them "Five bucks, please" or "Filler up". Your car would then get it's windshield cleaned, oil checked, washer fluid topped off, tires checked, and sometimes lights checked (and more stuff done, I don't remember everyhing). If anything was amiss, many were also "service stations"...they could do just about anything. If you didn't want full service, you had to get out of your car and go inside to pay.
For those pumps that have removed the hold open clip, you can use the gas cap wedged inside the handle if your car has a cap and it's not tethered.
Yep! I do that if I'm driving my old Jeep. However, a lot of modern cars don't even have gas caps.
@@JeffDeWitt My new truck is cap-less, and I like it. But it's also why I carry a woodworking spring clamp. I like to wash the windscreen while it's filling.
I just keep a split pin on the keyring along with my car keys , all the UK pumps still have the little holes and the hook on the trigger
@@JeffDeWitt It is a legal requirement here in UK to have a secure petrol cap , in case of a roll over crash . MOT failure if not present , and the one size fits all bung type are not acceptable , they must lock on securely
@@derekheeps1244 The capless fillers aren't allowed there? I REALLY doubt those leak in rollover accidents, after all the tanks are designed not to let gasoline vapor out, so I really doubt liquid gasoline could get past the filler.
The shell station round corner has the hold open clips i always go there /luv the clip !!(ontario canada )
I believe security has improved, but originally in the UK card payment at the pump had the highest rate of credit card fraud in the country
In Montana and Wyoming most every gas station is 100 miles from the next one! my stepmother had a 1978 Ford Ltd with an enormous "police" V8 from when she lived in Wyoming. It had the factory equipped 25 gallon gas tank as well as after market 20 gallon saddle tanks on both sides of the trunk! It's rumored that 100 miles could on occasion be less than a one hour trip!:-) 🖖
No rumor ... is quite true. In the late 1990s, I had gone to visit relatives in Montana (me living in Idaho) ... I was driving my 1973 2-door Imperial on I-90 east-bound ... looked down at the speedometer ... and was surprised to see that I was cruising along at 105 mph ... that Imperial felt like it was just floating effortlessly ... handling the curves in I-90 like nothing. Yeah ... driving 100 miles in an less than an hour ... easy. And a very good reason to make use of the Imperial's cruise control ... I really had no idea that with my foot on the gas pedal that I had crept up to 105 mph.
@@garypeters5869 i was given my grandparents '68 Catalina with a 400 big block and no cruise control in '79. Young and dumb, i was lucky to only get one speeding ticket! 🖖
A more pertinent metric to use for gas/petrol station availability/density would be to use city/suburban/exurban population areas, discounting rural counties. At that rate, the availability of fuel would be roughly equivalent. Remember, Britain is roughly the size and shape of California, so it lacks the rural areas that the US has.
1st time watcher and I found it very interesting. Thanks for doing the currency exchange, was very helpful.
Welcome to the channel! Hope you check out some of the others, he's fun!
The only difference we in the states need to know is that it's over twice the price over there, and that's IF it can be obtained at all, because lorry drivers don't get paid enough to be a domestic career choice.
The main difference is that in the USA you pay about the same for a gallon as you pay for a liter in the UK. Well, maybe two liters. The gas is more than twice the price in the UK (and the roads are twice as good because with all that additional tax money the UK’s Highways Agency, which has always done well in governmental spending reviews, can afford to keep them that way).
Here in the US gas stations were also referred to as “service stations,” presumably because an attendant would come out and pump the gas for you. Also, here in the people’s republic of California, we pay a ridiculous amount in taxes for fuel, and almost no one takes public transit. (Unless you’re under age or in poverty.)
Yeah and I don't get that! You can WALK places faster than traffic goes sometimes!
Though that might actually be more of a New York thing than a California thing!
@@JacksonOwex Yeah, in Cali things are a lot further apart than in NY.
In Wisconsin everyone drives their own car. Public transportation is basically "City bus lines" and most of the time are used by those too poor to own a car. We do not have subways or light rail here either.
Brilliant amusing as always Lawrence.
A grand total of six BP that had run out of fuel UK on 24 Sep, that was it. Some media outlets reported this, as if a crisis was looming; this meant enough people then suddenly went out to get fuel across the UK, that stations ran out of fuel. A self-fulfilling prophesy of sorts. However there was actually no shortage of fuel per se, it was merely 'panic buying' that caused stations to run dry. And lo, a week later, things have returned back to normal across most of the country (there are still a few issues in the south-east of England)
When I moved to the US state of Pennsylvania from another one in the mid-1980s, I discovered to my chagrin that the thingy that lets me fill up my tank without holding the pump was not allowed there. But it was finally legalized, and it's rare that I come across one that's lacking it.
I think this thingy dates back to the days when all gas pumps were "full serve" so that attendants could serve multiple customers at once.
Lifelong PA resident. I just used to use my gas cap.
Even though Puerto Rico is a US territory, they use the metric system.
We use the metric system for a lot of things in the states, but not for gasoline pumps.
Great video as always. Being from Michigan, I used to frequent Ontario pre pandemic. Canada too uses the Imperial gallon and sells gas by the litre. Currently gas in Windsor, Ontario is $1.35 litre, x 3.78541 = $5.11 Canadian for a US gallon.
Is it cheaper in Detroit or would it still not be worth the drive?
@@tybooskie The exchange rate is $.79 US dollar to $1 Canadian. So that equates $5.11 to $4.04 US. It is about $1 more a Gallon in Canada than in Michigan. Plus, since going from Detroit you'll need a bridge or tunnel to get there, that is an extra toll cost of $4.50-$6.00 going over and again coming back.
We use Canada as a short cut to the east coast. We go through Detroit and exit at Niagara Falls. It saves an hour, unless it's a holiday. One thing, we never buy gas in Canada. You do have to keep an eye out for the OPP.
@@Sharon-pb7so We do the same thing to get to the Buffalo area. Fill it up before the tunnel. Yes the 401 is a scary road, especially in winter. Sometimes we enter into Sarnia from the Blue Water Bridge to avoid most of the 401.
Pre-virus, I was in Windsor 1 or 2 days a week (from Michigan) for business. Buying gas there only happened when I was so lazy or planned so poorly that I had no choice.
My first few trips to the US I didn't realise that you had prepay for your fuel, by either leaving a credit card or the cash before the pump was switched on. Here in the UK, unless you are in a dodgy area, you are trusted to go a pay after you have filled up.
"Trusted" as in the stations all have CCTV cameras. :)
Also, even at UK prices, a tank of fuel isn't worth a criminal record. ;)
I assume the number of petrol stations per square mile in the UK will drastically change if one deducts the ones from London….
As for somebody who studied in the UK and worked in London: Love your channel and your accent.
I hope to visit Montana in 2022, can’t wait to see its beauty.
Cheers from Hamburg 🇩🇪