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Does anybody have an account of how unleaded/diesel fuel cars came to have a standard nozzle for filling up? It might give us an insight into how this particula

Does anybody have an account of how unleaded/diesel fuel cars came to have a standard nozzle for filling up? It might give us an insight into how this particular standards battle will go down.

StavrosK 12y ago
If I had to guess, it was done easily because car manufacturers didn't own gas stations.
dubcanada 12y ago
I mean it's a hole and a spout. I don't really see any other easy way to pour something into a container that has a small opening.
- marcosdumay 12y ago
  There is quite a bit of variation possible in hole diameter, and spout length.
  - arethuza 12y ago
    Including the spout for diesel being larger than petrol to stop you putting diesel in a petrol car.
cpwright 12y ago
To be honest, the standard for a gasoline nozzle is pretty easy. The hole needs to be bigger than the hose, that's it. There are a lot more variables with an electric plug. The standard for the actual fuel composition must certainly be the harder part when considering a classic ICE.
qbrass 12y ago
In the early 70's cars were being built with catalytic converters, which necessitated the use of unleaded gasoline because leaded gas would coat the catalytic material in the converter and ruin it. Cars designed to use unleaded gas would have a fuel filler with a smaller hole in it, and unleaded pumps would have a nozzle that fit in the hole, while leaded and diesel nozzles wouldn't.
- timthorn 12y ago
  Was it catalytic converters or government pressure due to health concerns that forced the move? Certainly in the UK, cats came later.
_delirium 12y ago
I don't know the whole story, but there is (or was?) an organization called the Gasoline Pump Manufacturers Association that dates back to at least the 1930s, which seems to have some role in it. Also quite a bit of government involvement, since the measuring parts of the pump fall in the category of "weights and measures", which have been regulated since quite early in U.S. history as an anti-fraud measure (e.g. butchers were traditionally required to use an officially certified scale).

Does anybody have an account of how unleaded/diesel fuel cars came to have a standard nozzle for filling up? It might give us an insight into how this particular standards battle will go down.

StavrosK 12y ago

If I had to guess, it was done easily because car manufacturers didn't own gas stations.

dubcanada 12y ago

I mean it's a hole and a spout. I don't really see any other easy way to pour something into a container that has a small opening.

marcosdumay 12y ago
There is quite a bit of variation possible in hole diameter, and spout length.
- arethuza 12y ago
  Including the spout for diesel being larger than petrol to stop you putting diesel in a petrol car.

cpwright 12y ago

To be honest, the standard for a gasoline nozzle is pretty easy. The hole needs to be bigger than the hose, that's it. There are a lot more variables with an electric plug. The standard for the actual fuel composition must certainly be the harder part when considering a classic ICE.

qbrass 12y ago

In the early 70's cars were being built with catalytic converters, which necessitated the use of unleaded gasoline because leaded gas would coat the catalytic material in the converter and ruin it. Cars designed to use unleaded gas would have a fuel filler with a smaller hole in it, and unleaded pumps would have a nozzle that fit in the hole, while leaded and diesel nozzles wouldn't.

timthorn 12y ago
Was it catalytic converters or government pressure due to health concerns that forced the move? Certainly in the UK, cats came later.

_delirium 12y ago

I don't know the whole story, but there is (or was?) an organization called the Gasoline Pump Manufacturers Association that dates back to at least the 1930s, which seems to have some role in it. Also quite a bit of government involvement, since the measuring parts of the pump fall in the category of "weights and measures", which have been regulated since quite early in U.S. history as an anti-fraud measure (e.g. butchers were traditionally required to use an officially certified scale).