Fun Kids Guide to... Fuel! - Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station

On this page we’re going to be looking at… fuel!

If you want any car to work, then it’s going to need fuel.

You know how if you haven’t eaten for ages, you feel like you have no energy? Well, a car is exactly the same. It needs a regular, hearty meal of fuel to make sure it has enough energy to get you about.

Types of Fuel

There are several different types of fuel that cars can use, with a growing number of cars using electricity!

Most cars still operate on petrol though. You’ll have seen your mum or dad putting a hose into the car at the petrol station. Well, this hose pumps petrol into your car.

You have probably noticed lots of hoses at the petrol station – these are usually for diesel and petrol, but more and more garages also sell liquid gas to help power cars.

Never mix and match!

Whilst both diesel and petrol power cars, you must never use both for your car!

They are very different and if you put the wrong one in the fuel tank, it’ll make your car really sick and stop it from working properly.

You can help your parents by learning which type of fuel your car uses, and then keeping an eye out to make sure they put the right fuel in.

Don’t run dry!

Every time you use the car, it will use up some of this petrol, so you need to keep an eye on how much petrol you have left – you don’t want the car to stop working when you’re on the way to football practice!

That’s why cars have a type of fuel gauge. This gauge indicates the level of fuel in the car, and you’ll find it on the car’s dashboard by the steering wheel.

Did you know?

Putting the right petrol into your car may seem simple, but it’s actually a very common mistake.

Over 150,000 drivers put the wrong fuel in their car each year – that’s one every three and a half minutes!