I have a local Shell garage which has just been built. There are screens mounted on each pump to sell you stuff but what it doesn’t have is a pay at the pump system.
Some of their stations do though, and many are now finding it strange to park the car, fill it and then walk into the station and queue to pay.
Shell are now showing off a new system, which builds on their existing in-car payment technology, inside new Jaguar vehicles. It lets you pay from the comfort of your car with a touch screen. Yes, you will still have to get out of the car to put your petrol or diesel in, but you can sit in the car and use your connected vehicle to pay for your fuel via card or PayPal.
The video below shows the system in action ..
It’s restricted to certain filling stations (check the Shell Service Station finder) and certain cars right now. Jaguar and Land Rover owners with vehicles from 2014 that have the “InControl Apps” technology installed can use it, and it’s only on iPhones at the moment according to their press release, although you can use the Android or iOS app for the normal Fill Up & Go option which I’ll explain in a bit. You can get a bit more information on the system from www.shell.co.uk/fillupandgo.
Of course, you could just mount a card reader on the side of the pump and use the contactless technology, but there’s a lot of safety issues using a phone next to a pump so for the rest of us you can use the existing Fill Up & Go system. This involves you using the Android or iOS app in a similar way…
After filling up using the system, an electronic receipt will be displayed on the touchscreen and it’ll be emailed to you. You’ll probably also get funny looks from other drivers who might assume that you’ve not paid, but it’s a cool bit of geekery nevertheless.