Top ten ways to save money on petrol and diesel

Date: 11/07/22

Fuel prices have been rising steadily for months as the war in Ukraine drives up oil prices on global markets. In June, the BBC reported that pump prices had hit a record high every day for a month. At the time of writing, official Government figures put the average price of petrol at £1.90 per litre, with diesel even higher at £1.98 per litre.

The impact of these rising costs is huge for both individuals and businesses. It now costs over £100 to fill the tank of the average car, putting a serious strain on household and business budgets. But the good news is that there are many simple ways to reduce your fuel consumption. Not only will this save you money, but it will also help the environment as less fuel means less carbon emissions.

Here are Think Hire’s top ten tips for saving money at the petrol pump:

Be prepared

Keeping your car in shape can make a big difference to your fuel economy.

1. Look after your tyres – Under inflated tyres can significantly increase fuel use as there is more of the tyre in contact with the road. A drop of just 20%, or 6PSI can result in between 3% and 10% extra fuel being used. That’s an extra litre for every 100miles.
2. Empty your car – keeping tools, golf clubs or any other junk in your boot will also significantly reduce your fuel economy. You lose 1% efficiency for every 25kg so empty your boot of everything that isn’t necessary.
3. Regular servicing – getting a service not only keeps your vehicle in good shape, it can improve your fuel efficiency. Blocked air filters, old sparkplugs and tired engine oil will all mean less miles per gallon, so get make sure you keep up to date with your vehicle’s service schedule.

Shop wisely

4. Shop around – shopping at your nearest petrol station can be costly, especially when compared to supermarket forecourts. Find the cheapest fuel near you and stick to it. Buying at the supermarket can also attract loyalty points and special offers than can save you even more. Never leave yourself having to fuel up on the motorway as this will seriously add to the cost.
5. Don’t fill up – a full tank is extra weight that you don’t need. Every litre of petrol weighs 740g and, as mentioned above, this extra weight eats into your miles per gallon. Balance regular fuelling with the cost of the extra trips. Usually filling up halfway is a good compromise.
6. Fuel up early – strange though it may seem, you’ll get a little more fuel if you fuel up in the morning when it is cooler. Pumps measure volume not density, and since cooler fuel is denser, you get more.

Drive better

7. Plan your trips – don’t waste fuel making lots of short trips on and off through the day, as starting and stopping your engine wastes fuel. Combine them into a single journey where your engine stays warm and efficient. It’s a better use of your time too.
8. Drive smarter – you don’t have to go for the full ‘hypermiling’ approach to drive more efficiently, just read the road ahead and keep a reasonable and constant speed. Excessive acceleration and hard breaking both waste fuel, and the faster you go the less efficient you will be. Energy.gov shows that driving at 60mph vs 50mph decreases fuel economy by 12.4%, 70mph vs 60mph decreases fuel economy by 14% and 80mph vs 70mph cuts economy by 15.4%. Going faster will only cut a few minutes from your journey time, but you’ll add pounds to your journey cost.
9. Resist the air con – air conditioning can consume up to a litre of fuel for every 60miles travelled. That’s an extra £3 on a trip from Manchester to Birmingham. At speeds under 30mph, it’s more fuel efficient to wind down the windows.

Go electric

10. Dump the pump - of course, the best way to beat rising fuel prices is to dump the pumps altogether and go electric. Electric vehicles avoid the stress of rising forecourt prices and are simple to run, even for larger companies. You can double the savings by powering your electric fleet with solar panel generators from Think Hire. We have a huge range of solar panel generators for sale, alongside our extensive hire range. Talk to our expert team about how switching to electric vehicles and solar panel generators could help your company fight the rise in fuel prices.

View all Think Hire news