How it works
How the map knows what it shows
Station data comes from up to three sources: map data, official feeds and driver reports. Each one is labelled and shows its age. If nobody knows, the station says so.
driver report · 12 min ago
driver report · 40 min ago
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1Where it comes from
- OpenStreetMapwhere it is · what it sells · hours
- Official feedsnational prices · FR ES IT US
- Drivers at the stationfuel · queue · price · charger
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2Kept separate
Every fact keeps its source and the time it arrived. Nothing is averaged. If two drivers disagree, you see both reports.
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3One pin
The pin colour shows what the station sells. The ring shows who checked, and it fades with time.
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4You
Tap a pin to see the source and age of each line.
How station data gets onto the map
Each station has several facts from different sources. Each fact has its own age.
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map data · does not expire
Map data puts the station on the map
Location, brand, fuels, charger connectors and power, and posted opening hours come from OpenStreetMap. Anyone can correct it there, and the fix reaches every map that uses it. If a detail is missing, the card says Opening hours not listed or Connector type not listed.
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official feed · updated on its own schedule
Official feeds add government data
France, Spain, Italy and the United States publish fuel prices. Refuelia shows them as national averages on Fuel prices, not as the price at one station. France also publishes which stations have run out of a fuel. Fuel availability reads that feed every 30 minutes. Official data is always labelled official.
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driver report · 12 min ago
Drivers report what they see at the station
Drivers report if there is fuel, which grades, the queue, the price they paid and if the charger worked. Confirming takes one tap and no account. A price or a comment needs a free sign-in, so a real person is behind it. Each driver counts once. Tapping five times is still one report.
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on the pin · with its age
The pin shows the result and its age
The pin colour shows what the station sells. The ring shows who checked, and how recently. One does not replace the other. Selling a fuel is not shown as a driver check.
How long a driver report counts
A station can change between one driver and the next. Every report keeps its time, fades as it gets older and stops counting after 18 hours.
Two drivers disagree
Both reports stay and the status shows Limited fuel, with a note that the reports disagree. It does not turn this into green.
Posted hours say open
Opening hours are not a check. They show as a dashed outline with the words Open by its timetable. They do not mean there is fuel or that a charger works.
What each pin status means
There are five states. Each has its own colour, shape and word, so you never rely on colour alone.
Blue means EV charger, not a status. A charger nobody has checked is blue, and its card says No fresh report.
- Fuel availableA driver confirmed it recently. The card says when.
- Limited fuelSome grades are out, there is a queue, or two reports disagree.
- No fuelA driver found no fuel, or a charger did not work.
- Open by its timetableThe posted hours say open, but nobody has checked. It is dashed because opening hours count for less than a report.
- No fresh reportNobody has reported lately. A grey pin never turns green without a new driver report.
What the map cannot tell you
Here is what the data does not cover.
- Fuel prices in each country
- Most countries publish no station prices. If there is no feed and no driver has posted a price, the station says Price not reported. Refuelia does not guess, use a regional average or copy prices from other websites.
- What the route planner can and cannot do
- The route planner finds stations along your route that sell your fuel or have your connector, with the detour for each. It has no traffic data. It cannot know what a station will have in four hours. It shows the stations on the route and when each was last checked.
- Why there is less EV charger data
- Chargers change faster than fuel stations, so map data covers them unevenly. If a connector or power rating is missing, the charger is shown without it. We do not guess.
- Opening hours
- In the 4,389 map areas built so far, with 355,672 fuel stations, 16.6 per cent are marked 24/7. Another 7.4 per cent list opening hours. The rest have no hours in the map data, so the card says Opening hours not listed. We do not make up hours.
Open the map and check a station
Nothing to install. No account needed to look. Refuelia never asks for a card number, bank details or an SMS code. If a site does, it is not Refuelia.