The Cost of Fuel and What You Can Do to Combat It!

In 2022 we saw fuel prices rise to unbelievable levels putting a strain on UK drivers’ pockets, and whilst they seem to be coming down a bit the price is still a frustrating expense. Obviously, it would be easy to say ditch the petrol and diesel and jump into an electric car, but here at Carsa we understand that isn’t an option for everyone. The steep cost of EV vehicles and some rural areas’ lack of charging points means many people need to stick with diesel and petrol cars for now.

There are, however, simple things you can do to ensure you aren’t spending more than you should be at the petrol stations. Here are some tips from the team at Carsa for tackling the cost of driving in the UK

Be Gear Aware

I know it’s easy when you’re approaching the junction to think “I’ll be okay in this gear”, little shudder here and there and if you don’t stall, you’re away!

Maybe you like to live out your Formula One dreams by letting the revs build a bit as you pull away but being in the right gear for the situation is crucial if you want to maximise every penny worth of fuel. Over or under revving puts strain on the engine and burns more fuel. The optimal time you should be switching gears to get the best economic performance varies between petrol and diesel cars but as a guide you should be grabbing the gear stick and moving up is between 1500 and 2000 rpm.

Still want to be lazy on the gears? Then you might want to bear in mind research shows by using your gears correctly you can save as much as 20.5 mpg!

 

Smoothly Does It

With Murray Walkers’ legendary words ringing in your ears “and they’re off!” it’s very tempting to be heavy on the accelerator to get the perfect start off the lights, but it’s probably not the best way to enjoy driving for longer between stops at the petrol station.

We’re not suggesting you pull away so slowly only you and the one car behind you make it through the traffic light phase because that can be very frustrating for car three and everyone behind them.

You should pull away at a brisk pace but maintain a smooth acceleration with no jerky movement.

As a rule, fuel efficiency is improved when not accelerating too quickly and decelerating suddenly.

 

Keep Them Pumped!

This is one of the single biggest contributors to good fuel efficiency, but it is so often overlooked. Simply put, tyres inflated to the correct level have a positive impact on your fuel economy, under inflated can cause a decrease. In fact, it’s reported you can see as much as a 1% loss for every 2psi drop in pressure on all four tyres.

Most cars come with tyre pumps, and it takes minutes to check and inflate, when you consider the savings can you afford not to?

 

Lose The Excess Weight

Not you personally, we mean in your car! Excess weight in your car can force your car to work harder and become a drain on your fuel, so take some steps to combat it.

Open the boot and have a look, do you need everything in there?

Do you need the roof box or bike rack on all the time?

This might only make a small difference but added to all the other changes it can be the real difference in how often you fill up!

 

Keep Cool

Just don’t always use the air conditioning to do it!

Back in the day if you wanted to stay cool you wound down a window (that’s right ‘wound’, no button!)

But today’s cars all pretty much have air conditioning, heating, even heated seats, and steering wheels which is lovely but will influence fuel economy. Like all good things the cool breeze of fresh air should be used in moderation as it will pull on the engine’s resources to maintain a comfortable temperature, with some studies quoting the increase in fuel consumption by as much as 7%!

Sometimes it might be better to go old school and wind…Sorry, press the button and lower the windows to cool off. However, on motorways it might be worth sticking with the air-con as open windows travelling at pace can create drag which isn’t an efficient way to drive either.

 

It’s Not a Drag Race

As we’ve already discussed drag lets go into more depth here. Modern cars are designed by very clever people, probably wearing white lab coats, who give great thought to the shape of the car. This means the car cuts through the wind with as little resistance as possible, however, things like roof racks and roof boxes struggle with the wind and cause drag on your car. Remember, every time we ask our car to work harder than it should it takes more fuel off us!

 

Are We Nearly There Yet?

It may sound silly but think about where you are going and the best route to get there. If you can avoid congested areas with lots of stopping and starting that would be better. Getting lost means longer on the road so check your sat nav; some modern sat navs will offer you the best eco route which would obviously be the most preferable route.

 

The truth is as we move across to Hybrid and EV vehicles fuel costs will continue to be an issue for millions of Britain’s drivers, but the term ‘marginal gains’ is one that springs to mind. The little changes you can make here and there can work together to hopefully start seeing the savings on fuel.