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Drivers and petrol - tea shop
Village Facebook noticing that our local garage is now charging £1.60 / ltr and saying it's 8p less in town (10 mile round trip to save £3, anyone?) Someone saying it'll be £2 by the end of the month.
I reacted cautiously to the "shortage" of fuel in September - a lot more desperate scratting about for supplies and not concentrating was my take.
I don't wish financial hardship on anyone, but there's the energy cap change and the increase in NI all coming down the track. The best ways to economise on fuel are to drive less, drive smaller, stick at 55 mph, check tyre pressures, drive like you're a cyclist - keep a steady momentum.
I wonder what we'll see on the roads and at the pumps in the coming weeks?
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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39 comments
As witnessed by the number of drivers who leave their engines idling when they are parked to keep the car warm/cool when the weather is cold/hot. This alone proves that car fuel is too cheap.
How many years is it now that the car fuel price escalator that used to ratchet up the cost of petrol/diesel every budget has been zero?
Went to Cornwall last week. Half the garages out of fuel on the weekends.
Risk of fuel shortages very real I think.
it's not about convenient personal travel, this.
I was in Shropshire in late September '21 - the petrol queues and the angst all seemed to be mainly coming from super-connected London and the south-east.
things seemed pretty chilled in rural Shropshire, considering you could get genuinely stuck around there if there was a real fuel shortage.
Local Sainsbury's filling station had nearly run out of diesel (£1.52) today. Lots of queueing. I did wonder if it's the start of something... Certainly my next, and hopefully last, van will be electric.
In 6 months' time, the cost of fuelling EVs will likely have doubled from what it is now - are you sure about that?
https://insights.leaseplan.co.uk/electric-vehicles/ev-news/electric-vehi...
these figures are slightly out of date te 3p/mile is probably now 4p/mile, but even doubled to 8p/mile this is far cheaper than a desiel engine at £1.50/l or 16p per mile. (42mpg) anyone looking for an evan is most likely doing short trips around twon between jobs, rather than transporting goods long distances. these trips are where electric is most efficient and ICE is least efficient
E vehicles also need less maintenance, being just electric motors and brakes. The only reason to shy away from them is if you routinely do journeys beyond the range of the vehicle or you have nowhere off road where you can charge your vehicle at night. or if the up front cost is too high.
I think the point though is that the 'golden age' of super cheap electric motoring is coming to an end.
Energy prices are set to double again by the end of the year, which will bring mileage costs up to 9p a mile - but that's assuming that the cheaper night charging tariffs remain. I can't see that being the case as more people make the switch. As demand increases so will the price.
Oh, and electric vehicles are paying excise duty as of this / next year, so that little win has gone out the window too.
But then there is also the issue with the batteries. These are currently good for a claimed 80000 miles. Now applying the same rule of thumb that all charge times / battery life etc. every claimed for an electric product is based on optimum conditions, I'm guessing that 80,000 miles is based on super economical driving, in warm weather only, and careful, optimised charging (no quick charges). In the real world, just like you struggle to get the quoted range possible on a charge, you're probably not going to get 80000 out of those batteries. Or more accurately, you are not getting anything like the advertised range on these vehicles for anything like 80000 miles.
I'd love EV's to be the answer, but I'm currently very cynical.
I think it will be interesting and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Teslas have some of the oldest batteries still running and they are showing 100k before losing 10%.
Others with less experience Im not so sure about.
"Energy prices are set to double again by the end of the year, which will bring mileage costs up to 9p a mile - but that's assuming that the cheaper night charging tariffs remain."
But with oil prices also increasing it will always be cheaper per mile. If electric goes from 4p/mile to 8p/mile but diesel goes from 16p/mile to 20p/mile there is still the same p/mile saving which still funds the more expensive capital cost.
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