On-Demand Gas Joins Growing Delivery Trend

LOS ANGELES — Gasoline may be the next product that consumers can get via delivery if the new mobile app Purple is successful. Available on iOS and Android, Purple currently allows residents of pilot city Los Angeles to order gas on demand, with delivery scheduled one to three hours in advance, reported Business Insider.

Since launching in May, Purple has gained 15,000 users. Its newest feature, set to launch in a few weeks, is overnight filling. Consumers will be able to tell the app where their cars are parked, leave their gas tank door open or unlocked, go to sleep and wake up to a full tank of gas.

"Convenience is the first motivation," Purple founder Bruno Uzzan told the news outlet, adding that he understands that for some, the ability to avoid the gas station may not make up for the added cost of delivery.

Purple charges $3.79 per gallon for 87 octane and $3.99 per gallon for 91 octane in Los Angeles. Currently, the average price for a gallon of gas in the Los Angeles region is $3.56. Purple users can choose between 10 gallons or 15 gallons, as regulations on measuring gas requires couriers to fill cars with gas in round numbers, according to Uzzan. A five-gallon option is planned for the future.

Existing users of Purple have largely been those who drive luxury cars in wealthy Los Angeles neighborhoods, but Uzzan wants to expand beyond that market and into the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Cars are more and more connected, and there is the vision that one day you won't have to go to the gas station, or even order Purple," Uzzan said. "The car itself will automatically order gas. All the technical aspects are there."

While most drivers are unlikely to use Purple, Uzzan said it can still be a success.

"Forty million people stop into a gas station every day," he said. "Even if we have only 0.1 percent of them, that would be 40,000 users per day."