Foolproof fuelling

Owners of Range Rover TDV8s will never suffer the embarrassment of stuttering and stalling as they pull away from a petrol pump having accidentally filled their diesel vehicles with petrol.

Diesel nozzles are wider than petrol, preventing the reverse from occurring. But engineers at Ford used the fact that petrol nozzles are slightly longer in their new fuel guard system for the TDV8.

The vehicle's diesel filler head contains a mechanical shutter which is activated if a longer petrol nozzle is inserted, preventing petrol being dispensed into the diesel tank.

The AA reports that 85 per cent of misfuelling incidents involve putting petrol into a diesel car, and every year about 120,000 motorists in the UK fill their car’s tank with the wrong fuel.