Spritmonitor is a German website that collects and delivers information about the fuel consumption and electric energy consumption of vehicles under real-life conditions. The database is provided by the users of the website themselves (crowdsourcing) who log the fuel-ups and charge-ups of their vehicles in the system.
History The website was created by Thomas Fischl and Dominik Fisch as a side project to their study of computer science at the University of Passau, Germany in 2001.Der wahre Spritverbrauch auf Spritmonitor.de University of Passau. Retrieved February 26, 2017. Initially, the project was known under the name „Consumption Tables“ and was renamed to „Spritmonitor“ after a testing phase („Sprit“ is in Germany colloquial speech for fuel). The website is operated and owned by the Fisch und Fischl GmbH company which was founded in 2008.
Functions Spritmonitor offers two main functions:
First, it is possible for a car owner to log and track fuel up data and all vehicle-based expenses in the system. Based on this data many different analyses can be performed (e.g., fuel consumption depending on season, kind of fuel, used tires, etc.). The system supports conventional gasoline and diesel internal combustion vehicles, bivalent vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas or compressed natural gas as well as electric vehicles.Funktionen von Spritmonitor Spritmonitor. Retrieved February 26, 2017.Autoverbrauch: Website sammelt Daten Aachener Zeitung. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
Second, the data base entries of Spritmonitor users can be viewed and analysed by others. Thereby, future car owners do not only have to rely on the fuel consumption published by car manufacturers but they can also get information about the-to-be-expected real-life fuel consumption of a vehicle before buying it.
Spritmonitor can be used on the road with the corresponding iPhone-, Android-, and Windows Phone-Apps as well as with the mobile version of the website. There is also an API (application programming interface) available which can be used to connect external applications to Spritmonitor.Spritmonitor API description Spritmonitor. Retrieved March, 7th 20206.
Use in scientific studies and tests The Spritmonitor data base has reached such a significance in size and quality that it can be used in scientific studies. The ICCT uses the data set in its annual report “From Laboratory To Road” From Laboratory To Road 2014 ICCT. Retrieved February 26, 2017.From Laboratory To Road 2015 ICCT. Retrieved February 26, 2017.From Laboratory To Road 2016 ICCT. Retrieved February 26, 2017.From Laboratory To Road 2017 ICCT. Retrieved May 24, 2020.From Laboratory To Road 2018 ICCT. Retrieved May 24, 2020.On the way to real-world CO2 values ICCT. Retrieved May 24, 2020.On the way to real-world CO2 values? The European passenger car market after 5 years of WLTP ICCT. Retrieved February 3, 2024. as well as Transport and Environment in its studies “Mind The Gap”Mind The Gap 2015 Transport and Environment. Retrieved February 26, 2017.Mind The Gap 2016 Transport and Environment. Retrieved February 26, 2017. and “How clean are electric cars?”.How clean are electric cars? Transport and Environment. Retrieved April 24, 2020. Also the Deutsche Umwelthilfe refers to Spritmonitor in its publication “Verbrauchsabweichungen in Deutschland und den USA”.Verbrauchsabweichungen in Deutschland und den USA Deutsche Umwelthilfe. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
Besides those scientific studies, the Spritmonitor data is also used in vehicles tests of different media.Renault Zoe mit 41 kWh-Batterie heise Autos. Retrieved February 26, 2017.Mini Cooper Zeit Online. Retrieved February 26, 2017.Ford Focus Zeit Online. Retrieved February 26, 2017.Ökobilanz von Elektroautos Focus Online. Retrieved February 26, 2017. The German consumer organisation Stiftung Warentest also references Spritmonitor in their guide to buying used cars.So gehen Sie klug vor beim Gebrauchtwagenkauf Stiftung Warentest. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
Figures The Spritmonitor data base contains over 1,3 million vehicles of 880,000 users. All the users together logged over 56 million fuel-ups which correspond to a driven distance of 28 billion kilometres.Spritmonitor Spritmonitor. Retrieved August 27th, 2026.
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