I’ve heard and read a lot about GTL (Gas To Liquid) Diesel as an alternative to standard diesel fuel.
I better add a disclaimer.
Disclaimer
No all car companies have approved the use of GTL Fuels in their engines.
If your vehicle still is covered by a warranty, it might not cover the use of non mineral-oil based fuels.
I can’t guarantee that no harm will happen to your engine, if you choose to try this on your vehicle.
“Don’t try this at home!”
The regular diesel fuel, which you normally find at the pump, is made from mineral oil, and GTL Diesel, is made from natural gas.
Hence the name, Gas To Liquid.
It’s not easy to find here in Denmark.
Several oil companies have it on their product list, but most only deliver it to customers in bulk.
As far as I know, only Shell have it for sale at the pump, and only at a handful of their larger truck stops.
While filling up the Smart Fortwo, another car came in to fill up with GTL Fuel.
The owner said he had using it for several years, and that he felt that the engine in his Volkswagen minivan, ran much smoother and quieter than on regular diesel. His car’s odometer was getting close to the 500.000 kilometre mark, and he wasn’t having any issues with the engine.
After running a bit more than 500km on GTL Diesel, I must admit that I must agree with the VW owner, from the fuel station.
I do have the impression that the engine runs quieter and much smoother.
The three cylindre Mercedes diesel engine is not known for it’s refinement (I’ve been asked if I was driving a tractor, during phone calls 😤), but with the GTL Fuel it feels much less intrusive.
The annoying vibrations, that occur at 50 in fourth gear, and 80 in fifth also seem less annoying than normal.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the exhaust has another odour, with a faint gassy note, like the one you get if a gas grill doesn’t ignite during your first attempt.
My starting issues vanished quickly after filling up with GTL
Finding a fuel station with GTL Diesel
Getting hold of GTL however, is a pain.
There are very few places in Denmark, where you can pump GTL fuel.
So far I only know of Shell, and they only sell it at a few select truck fuelling stations.
The closest one to where I live is 60 kilometres and 47 minutes driving away.
Shell has chosen not to support my favourite payment solution, Apple Pay, so I have to have my physical credit card. I have only been one other place this year that wouldn’t accept ApplePay.
And then the other day while on a long trip, I drove by their truckstop at Horsens, and the paying system was out of order.
Two pumps, but only one payment terminal, that refused all cards.
After calling their support, I was told that it was down, and needed a visit from one of their technicians. There was no need to wait as it was a weekend, and the technician wouldn’t arrive the same day (probably not before Monday?)
This put a quick end to my test, as my fuel level was too low, to get me to the next GTL station on my route, 96 kilometres away at Odense.
However it did show that after some kilometres back on Diesel, the engine noise and vibrations were back to normal.
This however isn’t the end of my GTL experiments, as I did feel that my aprox 1000 kilometres on Gas To Liquid Diesel did improve the way the engine ran.
Update 5/8-2024
I’m sorry, but this update will be a frustrated rant. I do try to keep this site positive, but it’s hard when you run into the terrible service, Shell offers their customers at their unmanned stations...
Went by the GTL fuel station at Horsens again today.
Stupidly I expected to be able to fill up with fuel.
However, it turned out to be exactly the same experience. Neither Visa nor MasterCard were accepted.
So either the credit card machine still doesn’t work (weeks later), or the guy on their hotline outright lied to me, when I called them at my last visit.
I seriously doubt that they would let a big self service station like this, without the ability to serve customers for weeks at a time, so it leaves me wondering if they only accept some type of special Shell card.
Shell has made a deal with the Danish car owners association FDM, that their members can save 2,5% when you fill up with Petrol, Diesel or Electricity with an associated credit card. All my cards are associated thru this offer, but this offer doesn’t seem to be valid in Jutland. Not with GTL based diesel at least.
There is no mention anywhere on the station, what payment types they handle, and annoyingly they don’t support the payment types, as they do on the other GTL fuel stations I’ve visited.
Status is, that you can pay with:
Dankort, Visa, MasterCard and ApplePay in Odense.
Dankort, Visa and MasterCard in Køge.
Nothing I have access to in Horsens.
A weird service, not mentioning what payment options they support at the pump. I guess they leave quite a lot of customers down here with their lousy customer service. I certainly left their tank station, wishing that there were other companies, that offered GTL fuel on tap in Denmark.
I did however end up filling up with GTL Diesel, in Odense, almost 100 km away. Here there were no problems using Apple Pay?
Update 1/9-2024
Tried fuelling up with GTL today. Unfortunately the entire fuelstation was out of order, for the rest of the weekend, because that payment terminal was broken down.
Not the same issue as in Horsens, but the same result.
If you want to read more, then you can find the post here.
Have you tried GTL Diesel, or another type of GTL Fuel?
Do you have a better availability in your country?
If so, please share your thoughts and experiences in a comment below.
I would also be very pleased if anybody could inform me of other ways of getting GTL Diesel, as a private individual in Denmark, besides the illusive Shell truck stops.
Leave a Reply