Google Maps is adding petrol and diesel prices to its UK listings, giving motorists another way to compare fuel costs as prices remain elevated.
Google Maps will begin showing petrol and diesel prices at UK forecourts, giving motorists a new way to find cheaper fuel as costs continue to rise.
From Thursday (08.10.26), users searching for petrol stations on the navigation app will see their locations alongside fuel prices, with the information supplied through the government’s Fuel Finder scheme.
UK forecourts are legally required to submit their fuel prices to Fuel Finder within 30 minutes of changing them.
The move comes after the average price of diesel recently passed £2 a litre for the first time.
RAC policy head Simon Williams described the milestone as “a price threshold no one wanted to cross”.
Diesel prices have since fallen by around 2p a litre, but the AA estimates that filling an average 55-litre diesel tank still costs about £110.
The equivalent petrol tank costs around £96.
Fuel prices have been affected by disruption to global energy markets linked to the US war with Iran and Russia’s war with Ukraine.
There are already several apps that allow motorists to compare fuel prices, while Google’s navigation app Waze has offered similar information in the UK for some time.
Waze is used by around 2 million people in the country.
Apple Maps does not currently display fuel prices directly, although some third-party apps can use Apple’s mapping service.
Google Maps is likely to have a significant reach, however.
Ofcom estimates that 77 per cent of Britain’s adult population uses the service for general navigation.
The reliability of the government’s Fuel Finder data has raised some concerns.
Clare Lafferty, director at price comparison service PetrolPrices, said the company still needed to supplement the government feed with other sources.
She said: “At the moment, we still have to supplement the Government’s Fuel Finder feed with other data sources because, on its own, it does not provide the level of coverage and accuracy needed.”
Lafferty said PetrolPrices identified about 200 forecourts in September that it believed had failed to update their diesel prices within the required timeframe.
Google said it would independently assess the information and would only display prices when it had confidence they were current.
Sarah-Jayne Williams, Google’s director of product partnerships for Google Maps and Waze, said: “Accuracy is very important.”
Fuel Finder was launched in February by former chancellor Rachel Reeves, who said the scheme could save households around £40 a year.
Google Maps to show fuel prices amid soaring costs
