Data from the government’s Fuel Finder service is now available on Google Maps, with retailers’ latest prices feeding through from the mandatory system into the world’s most popular mapping service.
The news comes as prices remain concerningly high, with diesel now above £2 litre on average, and wholesale costs rising steeply overnight.
Tens of millions of UK drivers use Google Maps regularly and, from today, anyone browsing the app will see nearby fuel retailers alongside their prices, while searching for ‘petrol stations’ will bring up all nearby forecourts, along with prices.
To avoid overcrowding the user interface only unleaded prices are shown at first glance on the map, but drives wishing to look beyond this yardstick can click on an individual location and be shown the prices for all grades of fuel shared by retailers with Fuel Finder.
The system even warns users if prices haven’t been updated in the last 24 hours, while Google addressed concerns about the reliability of Fuel Finder data by saying it would only use information it has the “highest confidence” in.
But while the US tech giant may be confident in the accuracy of the pricing information it shares, forecourts can display on Google Maps with multiple names.
Some sites’ shops and valeting operations are listed as separate businesses from their fuel-retailing operations, while others display their current name alongside previous ones, with at least one EG On The Move forecourt harking back to its Applegreen days by being listed as a Welcome Break. These glitches are linked to Google listings, rather than issues with Fuel Finder data.
Away from such details, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, says “small changes” like the Google Maps/Fuel Finder integration can “help give families a bit of breathing space”.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, meanwhile, reiterated its claims that shopping around for fuel can save households £40 a year.
Absent from any government communications, however, was reference to the fact that the Treasury collects about £40 every time someone fills their car, nor did ministers mention that Fuel Finder was commissioned in 2023 under the previous Conservative government, albeit at the request of the Competition and Markets Authority.
