A gadget to stop motorists putting the wrong type of fuel in their cars has been created at the University of Wolverhampton.
Retired Royal Navy Commander Martin White came up with the idea after making the potentially costly mistake himself in 2005. The device replaces a car’s existing fuel cap, and is fitted with a special barrier which stops the wrong nozzle being inserted.
The invention is now set to be in the shops by the end of the year and car hire firms have also expressed an interest in it.
Mr White said today: “The act of refuelling a car is carried out so regularly that it becomes almost automatic and drivers give the task very little thought. The problem is that the variety of fuels available at each pump on the garage forecourt is greater than ever, so the probability that a driver will pick up the wrong nozzle by mistake is greater than at any point in the past.”
The AA estimates there are around 120,000 incidents of drivers putting petrol in their diesel cars every year. The cost of draining the tank and repairing it can run into thousands.
Mr White developed the product and its patent rights at the Caparo Innovation Centre (CIC), based at Wolv-erhampton Science Park.
The centre is a joint project between the university and steel company Caparo.
“The device is configured so that when a diesel fuel filler nozzle is inserted, a physical barrier swings out of the way allowing fuel to be added,” the 56-year-old revealed. “It can distinguish between petrol and diesel fuelling nozzles and will not open when it is attempted to insert the smaller diameter petrol nozzle.”
Mr White, of Somerset, added the product would initially be offered to fleet vehicle operators and hire car companies as misfuelling usually occurs when the driver is unfamiliar with the car.
It is being taken to market by Caparo Vehicle Products, which is currently testing advanced prototypes.
5 Comments
just to throw the cat among the pigeons. how would you tavckle the problem of petrol that is in a can and trying to ensure that you are not putting the wrong petrol into your vehicle as all cans look the same and have the same shape nozzel or use a funnel.
Emma,it is unlikely that you would put the wrong fuel into a can and then into the vehicle because you would have time to realise that you have put the wrong fuel in the can eg when you pay for your fuel the attendant usually says’£5 diesel sir’ where as if you put it straight in the vehicle it is already too late.
How about you read what it says on the bloody pump? Jeez, it’s a good job petrol stations have big signs otherwise there’d be queues of people trying to refuel at cake shops.
Goods luck with the invention Mr. White - I admire anyone who can make money out of the idle or the stupid.
why not invent something to make goverment reduce tax on fuel?
Putting the wrong fuel in is an easy mistake to make - especially with pool car with which you are unfamiliar, and given that modern diesel cars are so much quieter and nippier than their clattering predecessors that it really doesn’t feel like you’re driving one.
On the solitary occasion that I have boobed, it didn’t help that instead of placing the ‘Diesel’ sticker on either the quarter light glass by the filler neck (or, better still, on the fuel cap itself), the Renault Megane I was borrowing had the sticker on the inside of the filler lid so that, when open, it was out of the line of sight of anyone standing alongside the pump.
Sure, one feels like a right plonker; but a little humility now and then is good for the soul.