What’s the cost of a litre of fuel this week? How much will you need to get you from A to B? Nobody enjoys paying for the price of fuelling their vehicle, however, that doesn’t mean you can’t reduce the cost.
As providers of commercial and personal vehicle insurance, we’ve created a guide to help you reduce your fuel consumption and save you money.
What vehicle checks can you carry out to improve your vehicles fuel efficiency?
By carrying out a number of checks you can be confident that your vehicles fuel efficiency will increase. This could be achieved by doing the following:
- Checking your tyres regularly (at least every 2 weeks), by ensuring they are properly inflated, this can save you as much as 3% in fuel.
- Do you have an empty roof rack on that is not needed? If you remove this you could reduce the drag on your vehicle and save around 10% in fuel. Also closing any windows and sunroofs can reduce the drag on your vehicle
- Taking out unnecessary weight; whether this is stored in your boot or on the back seat, it all adds up and could save you about 2% in fuel.
- By filling your fuel tank to the halfway point you could reduce the weight and your fuel consumption.
- Having your vehicle serviced regularly can help ensure it is running as efficiently as possible.
- If you need to de-ice your vehicle, do this with the engine off. Scraping ice off your windows whilst the engine is running in idle only wastes fuel.
How to reduce your fuel consumption when driving?
The way you drive can have an impact on how much fuel you use and also have an impact on your carbon footprint. It’s important to have a clear understanding of what you can do to drive as efficiently as possible. Here are a number of ways you can reduce your fuel consumption and decrease your carbon footprint:
- The simplest way would be by making fewer trips, vehicle share if you can, cycle or even walk short journeys if possible.
- By accelerating smoothly and changing into higher gears when possible you could reduce your fuel costs by 15%.
- The faster you drive the more fuel you’ll use. Have a look at the potential fuel savings just for reducing your speed: 80mph to 70mph you could save 25%, 70mph to 60mph saves you another 10% and finally from 60mph to 50mph could save you a further 12% in fuel.
- Try to avoid rush hour driving by leaving for work earlier to reduce being stuck in traffic and decreasing the likelihood of being involved in traffic queues with your engine running wasting more fuel.
- By wearing the right shoes, thin-soled shoes could provide greater control over your acceleration compared to high heels or heavy duty boots.
- Switching off your air conditioning when it’s not required could help save you a lot of fuel.
How much do you currently spend on fuel per year?
Using a petrol price index you can find out how much you spend in total on your vehicle per year based. Once you know what the cost is, you can then look to take action to reduce it.
Where can you find the cheapest fuel in your area?
You may visit your local petrol station every time you need fuel. However, are they providing you the cheapest fuel price in your area? Why not put it to the test by carrying out a petrol prices comparison.
Chancellor’s budget
Road users no doubt take an interest whenever the chancellor is going to deliver his budget to see if there will be a change in fuel duty. In the previous autumn statement, fuel duty was frozen for the seventh year in a row. Its great news for road users but it’s not a reason to become complacent when trying to keep fuel costs down.
Do you know any other fuel saving tips? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter.
