Gasoline prices are skyrocketing. People no longer fill up spontaneously and randomly, but where it is cheapest according to the tank app or online comparison. Clever drivers fill up with fuel straight away. But be careful: there are limits. ARAG legal expert Tobias Klingelhöfer explains how much petrol can be carried in the canister.
If you live on the border with Poland, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic or Austria, you can be lucky and sometimes refuel much cheaper with our neighbors. However, I warn against a milkmaid bill: refueling abroad is only worthwhile if the distance is short and the price difference is high. Otherwise, travel and wear and tear costs may be higher than the savings.
There are also rules for importing petrol: in addition to a full tank of fuel, 20 liters of fuel may be imported duty-free from member states of the European Union. In addition to the fuel that fits in the tank, ten liters can be brought to Germany from third countries in a portable reserve canister. If you import more, you have to pay import duties.
Tobias Klingelhöfer is a lawyer and has been working as a legal expert for ARAG for many years. As a guest columnist for FOCUS Online, he informs consumers about their rights and obligations in different life situations.
I urge you that storing fuel at home can even be life threatening as flammable, toxic fumes can quickly escape from the reserve tanks. For this reason, the legislature allows a maximum of 20 liters of petrol and 200 liters of diesel fuel in small garages, and only one liter in your own four walls.
Important: However, these must be approved fuels, stored in sealed, shatterproof and non-flammable containers. Stored in this way, fuel can be kept for up to twenty years.
Neither basements nor underground garages of apartment building complexes are suitable storage areas for fuel. They are often structurally unsuitable because the base plate is not sealed and leaking liquids can get into the groundwater.
Therefore, only small amounts of fuel may be stored in underground car parks. An odor nuisance for roommates and neighbors as well as their health impairment must be excluded. The ARAG experts also recommend studying the rental agreement carefully, since storing petrol may mean using the rental property in violation of the contract.
In Germany, up to 60 liters of petrol per canister and a maximum of 240 liters can be carried in the vehicle. Provided that the canisters comply with the applicable DIN standard and are airtight, lockable and unbreakable. And the canisters must be transported safely so that they cannot slip, tip over or roll back and forth.
The canister is best kept in the trunk, where it can least endanger the occupants even in the event of an emergency stop. However, I would like to point out that at high temperatures toxic fumes can escape and get into the interior of the car. Then a spark is enough to ignite this air mixture.
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