Icelandic gas stations are self-service, card-only, and often unmanned. Most of it will feel familiar. One thing will not: the handle colors are roughly reversed from the US. In Iceland, the green handle is gasoline and the black handle is diesel. This guide covers how the pumps work, how to know which fuel your rental takes, and what to do if you pick wrong.
Here is the one thing to know first. In Iceland, pump handle colors are roughly the reverse of what many Americans expect. The green handle is unleaded gasoline — bensín, 95 octane. The black handle is diesel — dísel. In the US, green handles traditionally mark diesel. That habit is exactly wrong here.
This is the most common way Americans misfuel a rental in Iceland. You pull up in a diesel camper, reach for the green handle because green meant diesel at home, and pump gasoline into a diesel tank. The fix is simple. Read the label, not the color. Every pump is marked Bensín or 95 for gasoline and Dísel for diesel. Newer pumps also carry European symbols: gasoline in a circle (E5, E10), diesel in a square (B7).
| What you see at the pump | What it means | US habit to unlearn |
|---|---|---|
| Green handle, marked Bensín or 95 | Unleaded gasoline, 95 octane | "Green means diesel." Not here. Green is gas. |
| Black handle, marked Dísel | Diesel | Black is often regular unleaded at home. Here it is diesel. |
| The number 95 | Standard unleaded (95 RON, about 91 octane on the US scale) | 95 is not premium here. It is regular. |
| Fylla or "full tank" | Fill the tank; the pump holds a deposit on your card first | At home you pump first and settle after. Here the card hold comes first. |
| Metan | Methane, for converted vehicles | Ignore it. Your rental will not take it. |
Never assume the fuel type. Many Icelandic rental sedans and compacts run on gasoline. Many campers, vans, and 4x4s run on diesel. The same model can exist in both versions.
Check four places. First, the sticker inside the fuel flap — open it and look before your first fill. Second, the key fob, which often carries a fuel tag. Third, the fuel line on your rental contract. Fourth, the person handing you the keys. Ask directly: "Is this car diesel or petrol?" Thirty seconds at pickup is cheaper than any mistake at the pump.
Icelandic stations are self-service. Even at staffed stations, you pump your own fuel. The order of operations is the opposite of most US pumps: the machine takes your card and authorizes it before any fuel flows.
At the pump, insert your card, then choose either a fixed amount — 5,000 or 10,000 ISK, for example — or Fylla, meaning fill the tank. If you choose fill, the pump places a hold of roughly 22,000–25,000 ISK on your card, around $160–180. You are only charged for the fuel you pump; the rest drops off in a few days, though it can look alarming in your banking app. Choosing a fixed amount keeps the hold small.
One real snag for Americans: unmanned pumps expect a chip card with a PIN. Some US credit cards have no PIN, and "signature preferred" does not help a machine at midnight. Test your card at a staffed station early in the trip, and read our guide to paying in Iceland with US cards before you go. Two backups work: prepaid fuel cards, sold at staffed N1 and Orkan stations, run that chain's pumps with no PIN at all, and at staffed stations you can pay inside at the register.
The chains are N1, with the largest network, Orkan, Ólís and its unmanned ÓB stations, Atlantsolía, and one Costco near Reykjavík. All work the same way at the pump.
It happens to careful people. The next minute decides whether this is an inconvenience or a repair bill.
Here is why starting matters. Diesel injection systems are lubricated by the diesel itself. Gasoline strips that lubrication, and a few minutes of running can damage the high-pressure pump and injectors. The bill goes from a tank drain to towing, flushing, and parts — easily four figures. The reverse mistake, diesel in a gasoline car, is less destructive but still stops the car and still needs a drain.
One more surprise: misfueling is typically excluded from every rental insurance tier, including premium zero-excess packages. It counts as driver error, like sand damage. Our insurance guide covers the exclusions in detail. The only real protection is reading the pump label.
Around Reykjavík and along the south coast, stations are frequent. The east and the Westfjords are different. Gaps between stations can exceed 100 km, and a station on the map may be a single unmanned pump. The rule that keeps this simple: when the gauge hits half, fill up. You will never regret a half-tank stop. You may badly regret skipping one.
Timing matters too. Outside Reykjavík, most station shops close in the evening. The pumps run all night as card-only terminals — exactly when a US card without a PIN fails you. If your card is unproven, fuel during staffed hours.
Keep your receipts. Some rental companies want proof of a full tank near drop-off, and receipts make it easy to confirm the card holds were released. For the wider road-trip picture — one-lane bridges, F-roads, wind — see driving in Iceland for Americans.
As of late 2026, gasoline runs around 246 ISK per liter and diesel around 277 ISK — roughly $6.70 to $7.60 per US gallon. Prices actually fell this year: Iceland moved its fuel taxes into a per-kilometer road fee in January 2026, so more of the cost now arrives through the rental company rather than at the pump. Ask at pickup how the road fee is billed.
Diesel now costs a little more per liter than gasoline. Diesel engines also burn noticeably less fuel, so for a heavy camper on the full Ring Road, diesel still tends to win on cost per kilometer. In practice you rarely choose — the vehicle class decides the engine. Your job is to fuel it correctly. The cheapest fuel in the country is at Costco in Garðabær, just outside Reykjavík, where a US membership card works; details in our Costco Iceland guide.
Black. The diesel handle is black and the pump is labeled Dísel. Green is unleaded gasoline — bensín, 95 octane. That is the reverse of the traditional US convention. Go by the printed label, never the color.
If you have not started the engine, the tank gets drained and refilled — an annoying but manageable bill. If you start the engine, gasoline circulates through the diesel injection system and can damage the pump and injectors. That means towing, flushing, and possibly parts, often well over a thousand dollars, and it is typically not covered by any rental insurance package.
Yes, with one catch. Unmanned pumps want a chip card with a PIN, and some US cards do not have one. Bring a card with a real PIN, test it early at a staffed station, or buy a prepaid fuel card from N1 or Orkan as a backup.
The pumps are. Almost all stations run 24 hours as self-service card terminals. The staffed shops close in the evening, earlier in small towns. If your card has ever balked at an unmanned pump, fuel during the day.
For a small car, it barely matters — take what is offered. For a camper or large 4x4 on the full Ring Road, diesel usually comes out ahead on range and cost per kilometer, even though it costs slightly more per liter in 2026. Whichever you get, confirm the fuel type at pickup and check the fuel-flap sticker before the first fill.