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Guide · 4 min read

HVO100: is diesel made from waste fat any good?

What HVO100 is, which cars may use it, what it costs and why it appears in no price app.

What HVO100 is

HVO stands for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils, i.e. vegetable oils treated with hydrogen. In practice HVO100 is mainly made from used cooking oil and fat residues. The result is a paraffinic diesel fuel that, as a pure fuel, has to meet the standard DIN EN 15940. The 100 in the name means that it is filled up neat, not blended in.

For comparison: normal diesel at the pump (B7) contains up to 7 per cent biodiesel. HVO100, by contrast, is fully renewable. The ADAC, Germany’s largest motoring organisation, cites a CO₂ reduction in the carbon balance of up to 90 per cent compared with fossil diesel – “in the carbon balance” because CO₂ is still emitted at the tailpipe, but it was previously bound in plants.

Can my car run on HVO100?

Only if the manufacturer has approved it. You can tell by the marking XTL on the fuel flap or in the owner’s manual; in addition, the Deutsche Automobil Treuhand (DAT), a German automotive services company, keeps a list of approved vehicles. According to the ADAC, only a few car models were approved at the start – mainly newer vehicles. Without approval you should not fill up with HVO100; if something goes wrong, you may have trouble with the warranty.

What HVO100 costs

Since 29 May 2024 HVO100 may be sold at public petrol stations. A premium of up to 20 cents per litre had been expected beforehand; first spot checks by the ADAC in June 2024 found 6 to 10 cents more than diesel. So far HVO100 is offered only at some of the petrol stations. Quantities are limited because used cooking oils are already largely used today for blending into normal fuels.

Why HVO100 is not listed here

Petrol stations report only the prices for Super E5, Super E10 and diesel to the Market Transparency Unit. There is no reporting duty for HVO100 – so neither Spritfuchs24.de nor any other price app can compare it reliably. The best way so far to find out which petrol station offers HVO100 is to ask the operator itself. For normal diesel you can see all prices on every city page; why diesel costs something different from petrol is explained in Diesel and petrol.

Sources

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