The average price of UK petrol rose by 5.44p a litre in April, the second biggest monthly increase since 2000. Data from the RAC revealed a litre of unleaded shot up from 122.62p to 128.06p on average, with the retailer increases driven by a 5% jump in the cost of a barrel of oil.
Diesel increased by a more modest 3p a litre at the pumps, to 133.7p, though the RAC notes that the difference between the fuels in the wholesale price that retailers pay was only a penny. Britain’s four supermarket fuel retailers - Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda - increased their petrol prices above the UK average, too.
The price rise was most evident in Wales, where the cost of unleaded rose from 121.37p to 127.47p per litre over the course of the month, while London ended April with the most expensive petrol at just over 129p per litre.
The RAC cites the example of filling an average family car’s 55-litre fuel tank with petrol, which went up by £3, to £70.43, across the UK in April.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams claims “it is very clear from our monitoring of forecourt and wholesales prices that retailers have been using the cheaper wholesale cost of diesel to subsidise petrol pump prices and had they not, a new monthly price rise record would have been set.
“To put this pricing discrepancy in perspective, last year the amount of diesel sold was almost double that of petrol.”
The news comes as the Committee for Climate Change calls for the UK government to bring forward its 2040 ban on new diesel and petrol vehicles to 2030, reigniting the debate around the UK road infrastructure's readiness for mass electrification.
A detailed breakdown of UK fuel pricing changes since the beginning of 2015 can be found on the RAC's Fuel Watch website.
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Brits are just mugs.
Brits are just mugs.
Petrol v Diesel
If you're not bothered about your effects on the air and environment - only your own wallet (as many people are), this makes driving a diesel look even more appealing.
If you drove 1000 miles per month, it works out like this:
Petrol car @ 45mpg1000 miles = 84 litres84 litres @ £1.28p/l = £107.52
Diesel car @ 65mpg1000 miles = 58 litres58 litres @ £1.33p/l = £77.14
So you'd be £30 a month better off... and you'd have to visit the pumps less!
thesockpuppet wrote:
What I find surprising is there aren't more diesel plug-in hybrids available. It's the perfect set-up - a clean electric motor for short distances in the city, and an efficient diesel happily cruising at speed for long distances across the country. It'll tide us over until electric cars can do 400-500 miles on a charge and can be charged in under 10-15 minutes, but only Mercedes are making one with their E300de.
Good point
I agree with this summary for the near future, best of both worlds it seems to me. The extra advantage is that if you drive say to Scotland on diesel and then up there are low on fuel no worry that there might not be a petrol station nearby as you have an electric reserve of course. So less chance of running out of fuel before you find a charging or diesel filling point.
Diesel hybrids
Audi Q7 Etron is a diesel hybrid.
runnerbean wrote:
Ah, forgot about that one. Unfortunately it's even bigger and more expensive than an E class.
take off those rose-tinted specs.
Err which deisel car are you using that returns 20mpg more than it's petrol partner?
There used to be a big advantage (but never 20mpg!) until diesel engines had to meet current emission regulations. If you check all the popular average mpg websites you'll see diesel has little advantage over petrol.
But using official data, take for example a Golf SE Nav. Under new WLTP the highest returns are: 1.0tsi - 49.6, 1.5tsi - 47.1, 1.6tdi - 57.6
In other words the best diesel will only return 8mpg more than the best petrol. Then you've got to factor in the diesel costs £1600 more to buy. Irrespective of what the AA or Autocar says, there's currently a 7p difference between fuels at my local Sainsburys. (it used to be a 9p difference).
You need to be covering a huge mileage for diesel to break even these days.
Price rises.
What always gets me is how those using public transport get tons of press whenever the rail operator or bus company increases their ticket prices, but there's often nothing said for motorists. We're just expected to take it on the chin.
And how the very same people who complain about the cost of public transport seem to think cars run for free!
Yet, the truth is that for many working people the choice of running a car is made for them because there is no public transport alternative. I even know people in Scotland who are now having to drive huge distances simply to find work; no public transport system could get them there and back and allow time for a working day!
Symanski wrote:
As a car owner you are the easiest cow to milk and it will just get worse. Switch to electricity will not change that, in fact because electricity prices will go up once there are enough el.powered cars around, you will become even easier cow to milk, as you’ll be paying extra for using your toaster and electric brush.
very true
Also, there will be electricity shortages in the Uk when a substantial portion of the motor fleet is ev.
Ski Kid wrote:
Do some homework. That is a myth that has been debunked several times over already.
This doom and glooom victim
This doom and glooom victim stuff on EVs is FUD. If ever you going to run a vehice for free its not going to be from fossil fuel where as with electric i do make my own. OK i understand its not optimal at the moment but what else you going to do, roll over and die when fuel goes to £2.70?
Ive run a tesla MS for 5 years and in summer i can put 38 miles a day in from the solar, my zero motorbike puts 100 miles in in a day. In winter youcan halve that but seeing as always one is plugged in dont need grid electricity. If i go on a long journey (like Sorento Italy) I use Teslas own supercharger network which is free on my car.
So it next year when i double up my solar system and fit a battery to go off grid whats your solution?
Symanski wrote:
The other issue is the cost of public transport, especially for longer journeys.
Every 6 weeks my partner and I drive from our home in Nottinghamshire to her family in North Devon, a journey of 500 miles (round trip). In my Diesel-powered car we can do that return journey on less than 3/4 of a tank, a cost of about £40.
If we went via train, we'd have to go via London and Exeter and it would cost us about £150.
Plus we'd have to get from our home to the train station in Nottingham, and from the train station in Exeter to her family which is 35 miles away. And then again in reverse for the way back. It would easily be a £200 trip.
The humble motorcar, however, will take me to whichever destination I pleased, stopping wherever and whenever I liked along the way.
Missing costs
Sock, you are only factoring the cost of your fuel and if that's all you had to pay on the train I'm sure the cost would be a lot less. However the train Cos have to pay for the locomotives, carriages, platforms, rails, bridges, tunnels, staff etc - all of which are factored in to the cost.
The HMRC will allow you to charge £0.45 per mile for expenses (before they start to tax and dropping to £0.25ppm after 10k miles). This is to cover depreciation, tyres, MOT, RFL, maintneance, fuel etc. A lot of people feel that this is below the actual cost, but it's a fair place to start.
So, taking that figure, your 500 mile trip actually costs £225.00
Yes, there is a lot less convenience when taking the train but it does begin to level the playing field from a cost perspective