Rifuel shows petrol, diesel and LPG prices in Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Spain and Portugal. This page explains transparently how we collect that data and how the cross-border savings calculation works, which is what sets us apart.
1. Where the prices come from
We don't make prices up and we don't estimate them: we collect them from sources tied to each country and from user reports. Specifically:
- Italy: Osservaprezzi Carburanti, the public registry where operators are required to declare their prices.
- France: the public portal prix-carburants.gouv.fr.
- Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia: cartographic services and regional sources, supplemented by community reports.
- Spain: the Ministry's official geoportal (geoportalgasolineras.es), where operators declare prices.
- Portugal: DGEG (Direção-Geral de Energia e Geologia), the national energy authority.
- User reports: prices and stations submitted by the people using the app, cross-checked before being shown.
2. How often they update
The frequency depends on the source and the country, and we're honest about it. Where the source publishes prices continuously, the value in the app is refreshed within a few minutes. Where prices are regulated or published on a fixed schedule — in Slovenia, for example, regulated prices are revised every two weeks — the value changes on that schedule, not more often.
That's why we don't promise “every price updated every 15 minutes everywhere”: it would be false. Instead, we promise to always tell you how recent the price you're looking at is.
3. Freshness is always visible
On every station, on the map, we show how long ago the price was recorded. A stale price is labelled as such. We'd rather tell you a value is old than pass it off as current: a wrong price dressed up as fresh is worth less than no price at all.
4. How we calculate cross-border savings
The posted price alone doesn't tell you whether crossing the border is worth it. The real saving is what is left after paying for the extra kilometres and any tolls. Border Smart does that maths:
- Gross saving: the difference between the price at your station and the stations within roughly 30 km on the other side of the border, for the fuel you chose.
- Minus the detour cost: the extra kilometres (there and back) burn extra fuel. We subtract it using your vehicle's declared consumption or, if missing, 6 L/100 km, priced at the cross-border station.
- Minus tolls and vignettes: the costs of the suggested route, read from OpenStreetMap, ACI and TCS, are subtracted from the net.
5. When we flag “worth it”
We flag a border as worth it only if the net saving is above €1. Below that threshold the detour roughly breaks even and we don't recommend it: the extra time and kilometres aren't worth a few cents. When the maths breaks even we tell you, instead of forcing a “yes”.
6. Limits and what we do not guarantee
We want to be clear about the limits:
- Prices are indicative and can change between when they were recorded and when you reach the pump. Always check the posted price before filling up.
- We don't cover every single station in every country, and sources can contain errors or delays that carry over into our data.
- Toll costs and vehicle consumption are estimates: they're meant to guide the choice, not replace the exact figure.
- Exchange rates (for Switzerland) are updated periodically and may differ from those applied at the pump or by your bank.
7. Errors and reports
Found a wrong price or a missing station? You can report it directly from the app: reports are cross-checked before the value shown to other users is updated. That's how coverage improves over time. For any other question about how it works, you can write to personal@enzocorsiero.com.