ADAC: Filling up away from the highway saves a lot of money

Why highway gas stations are more expensive

The ADAC attributes the high prices at highway gas stations, among other things, to the convenience many drivers seek and a greater willingness to pay on longer trips. At gas stations off the highway, on the other hand, greater competition leads to lower prices. From the ADAC’s perspective, the price markups at highway gas stations are often significantly too high, despite higher operating costs. 

However, in a recent ADAC survey of more than 1,500 drivers who use the highway, just under a quarter of respondents said that, according to the ADAC, they do not exit the highway to refuel regardless of price differences. Sixty-three percent said they would do so—the vast majority of them even when price differences are as small as 20 cents.