PlayPriced off the Road?
Published:
Monday, 30 June 2008, 2:52PM
Priced Off The Road is Tonight’s latest headline-grabbing exploration of crippling oil prices.
Here, producer Bob Jefford provides a comprehensive guide on ways to cut your petrol and diesel costs
“Why is crude oil rising in price like a heat-seeking missile?” That was Quentin’s Willson’s timely question at the start of “Priced off the Road: Tonight”.
The answers are global demand and market speculation…
The bad news: these are things we can do precious little about.
The good news: There are plenty of ways you can cut back on fuel costs, and there are realistic cheaper alternatives to petrol and diesel.
These are the options outlined in the programme – but there is a health warning! Vehicles come in all shapes and sizes, so you must make sure that any of these suggestions are appropriate for your car or truck.
Option 1:
Green Driving:
Potential savings: 10%, maybe much more especially if you currently drive fast and hard. And it’s free
This is by far the easiest, although you might need a good bit of discipline to put it in practice. Green driving helps the environment – because it cuts CO2 emissions – but it’s also great for your fuel costs.
This is what you should do:
Drive slower! Driving at 50 mph compared to 70mph reduces fuel consumption by something like 15%
Change gear at lower revs, go easy with your brakes and accelerator.
Turn off if you’re going to be stationery for a few minutes.
Stop using air-con, take off your roof rack, and don’t drive around with a boot full of clutter.
Option 2:
Maintenance: 10% maybe more, especially if your motor is unloved
Regular servicing can cost a bit, but it pays back more.
Cars work best if they have oil that isn’t like treacle, air filters that let air through, and tyres that are kept at the right pressure.
Tonight gave a real wreck a thorough going over and improved fuel consumption by 30%
Option 3:
Biodiesel: Only for diesels, and it’s at least 20p a litre cheaper than ordinary diesel – if you can get it
This is really exciting but there’s a big health warning here… with some diesels you really can buy cooking oil from the supermarket and pour it straight in the tank. But you absolutely must check it out first – if you get it wrong, it’ll cost you much more than you'd save.
Most diesels will run on biodiesel without any modification, and you can generally mix it with ordinary diesel whenever you like. The big problem is getting hold of it. But with savings of 20p a litre and in some cases quite a bit more, it certainly can be worth all the effort.
Tonight showed just how easy it is to make your own, recycling used cooking oil and turning it into biodiesel. Each person can make 2500 litres of it every year – that’s about 50 litres a week – without having to pay any tax. It can cost as little as 40p a litre, so the savings can be huge.
This is a real alternative but again, you have to check out that you’re not going to wreck your car, or your warranty.
The problem here is that biodiesel isn’t a part of the huge petrol and diesel industry. So trying to pin down exactly which vehicle can run on what fuel is difficult. But here are some pointers – good luck!
Option 4:
LPG: Only for petrol vehicles - big upfront investment but big savings at the pumps
Liquified petroleum gas – aka PLG or Autogas – is a far more developed alternative fuel.
There are around 1200 petrol stations that have LPG pumps, so while they’re hardly abundant, there should be one somewhere near you.
The bad news: conversion will cost between £1500 and £2000, and you might lose boot space. Also, check your warranty.
Option 5:
Power tuning: Diesel and maybe petrol – modest upfront investment and maybe a 15% improvement in mpg for diesels.
This was the device that got presenter Quentin Willson smiling like the Cheshire cat with double cream and sprinkles.
It’s an electronic engine management gizmo, but enough of the science. It costs about £300, you can fit it yourself, and it can improve fuel economy by up to 15%. Commerical vehicles generally see the biggest savings.
It does work on petrol engines, but the savings are more modest. However if you really clock up the miles, it’s well worth considering.
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