fuel inlets of petrol and diesel cars to be distinct and the nozzle at filling station again to be distinct...only petrol nozzle locks up with petrol vehicle fuel inlet...
alerts from filling up wrong fuel...-- ravi kris334, Nov 22 2013 The Gods of the Copybook Headings http://www.kipling..../poems_copybook.htm"As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man …" [8th of 7, Nov 22 2013] Spherical trigonometry http://en.m.wikiped.../Spherical_triangleSo, it can be done. But why do it ? [8th of 7, Nov 22 2013] In many places, gasoline (petrol) nozzles are a much smaller diameter than diesel nozzles. This tends to prevent fueling a petrol vehicle with diesel and is WKTE.
An RFID transponder on the vehicle that triggers an alert on the pump if mismatched would be a simple fix. The transponders could be easily retrofitted to existing vehicles.-- 8th of 7, Nov 22 2013 The problem with the difference in nozzle diameter is that it only keeps diesel out of a gasoline tank. It certainly didn't keep [The Alterother]'s mother from filling the family pickup with gas and driving several miles before the problem became apparent.
Twice.
So...[+]-- Alterother, Nov 22 2013 The costs of recovering and repairing a diesel- fuelled vehicle that has petrol in its tank is a very effective de facto tax on stupidity.
It provides work for mechanics, garages, and the whole supply chain; maybe even rental agencies.
So, why should consumers be prevented from the effects of their own stupidity ? Cui bono ?
<link>-- 8th of 7, Nov 22 2013 square nozzle, round hole ?-- FlyingToaster, Nov 22 2013 RFID sounds good, but please make it so that if no RFID is detected, it gives a warning, but still allows the user to pump the fuel. If an RFID is detected, and it is a fuel indicator RFID, and the fuel isn't compatible, then yes, it would be good to prevent pumping the fuel and give an appropriate error message on the pump.
That way old cars don't have to be retrofitted, but could be retrofitted if the owner needed to protect the vehicle from someone's distracted state. You won't get stuck when the RFID system breaks (or someone installs a jamming device as a prank), and you can fill up your old gas can without buying an RFID tag for it. This could also be used to ensure that vehicles requiring a high octane rating don't get filled with low octane gas. Many stations use a single nozzle for three diffrent octane ratings, so RFID could differenciate without modifying the physical standard.-- scad mientist, Nov 22 2013 If the nozzles are shaped as a polar triangle and a spherical square respectively, constrained to a planar surface, then they can be of very similar areas and yet retain exclusivity.
<link>-- 8th of 7, Nov 22 2013 Stupidity is not my mother's problem, far from it. It's more like there are some vital details that just seem to escape her. A gas/diesel lockout nozzle would have prevented her loss of truck privileges.-- Alterother, Nov 22 2013 I like what Scad mientist posted "if no RFID is detected, it gives a warning, but still allows the user to pump the fuel."-- Dickcheney6, Feb 06 2014 One problem with any non-round shape is accessibility. Right now, I can pull my car into a pump on the wrong side, and the hose will reach over the car. This is often useful during extremely busy travel periods, and the ability to use the next available pump, regardless of position smooths the flow through the pumps.
However, in order to reach, I often need to orient the nozzle a little to a lot off axis. Any sort of square or triangular shape would prevent that.
RFID makes sense, is easily retrofitable for cars where there is a concern (rentals, e.g), and as long as the lockout only functions for the wrong tag, and not no tag (as discussed above), it doesn't require an all or nothing roll out, simplifying implementation.
On the other hand, I do see some advantage to taking cars of the road if they are otherwise in the hands of someone so confused as to not be able to tell the difference between gasoline and diesel. I don't want those people driving around.-- MechE, Feb 06 2014 This idea could perhaps be combined with another common source of fuel-related amusement.
Just make sure that all petrol-fueled vehicles have the filler cap on one side, and all diesel-fueled vehicles have it on the other.
Then arrange the pumps so that it's not possible to pull up next to the wrong sort of pump with the filler cap on the correct side.-- Wrongfellow, Feb 06 2014 Have we not "been there" with this idea many times in the past?-- xenzag, Feb 06 2014 Why not just have the nozzles "keyed"? Diesel has 10 notches and gasoline has 9 notches. These match up to the tabs in the opening to the fuel tank. It seems it would be easy to retrofit a simple "collar" onto older vehicles.
An added benefit is that with a slight twist, no chance of the filler nozzle falling out and spraying fuel.-- Klaatu, Feb 06 2014 the military thinks that one fuel is enough for everything. There's a logic to that.-- bs0u0155, Feb 06 2014 random, halfbakery