It will comes as a surprise to few people that fuel prices in the UK are among the most expensive in the world.
Car finance experts at CarMoney has looked into fuel prices around the world and say the Netherlands comes out top at £1.96 a litre, followed by Norway (£1.86) and Finland (£1.76).
At the time the research was carried out, according to CarMoney, the UK was in 11th spot at £1.67 a litre.
Read more: Proposals to ban Sunday driving and cut motorway speed to 64mph limit to save oil
With prices at that level it can cost over £80 to fill up your car and with this in mind CarShop has shared 12 driving and car maintenance hacks that increase fuel efficiency – some by up to 25% - which can save us hundreds of pounds over the year.
1. Make sure you have the correct tyre pressure
Underinflated and overinflated tyres are not only dangerous, but also waste fuel. Tyres generally lose up to two pounds of air per month, so check their pressure every couple of weeks. You can find out what it’s meant to be in your vehicle handbook, on the driver’s door sill or the inside of the fuel tank flap, and there are plenty of guides online.
Research shows that if tyres are under-inflated by 20% - or around 6psi – up to 10% more fuel is used, which costs £1.05 for every 50 miles driven. So, just by checking them regularly, drivers can save almost £200 over the year based on UK average mileage.
2. Cut down on the electrics .
If you don’t need your air conditioning, rear window heater, demister fan and headlights, turn them off.
In car air conditioning up to 1 litre of fuel every 60 miles travelled and costs £1.80 for an average diesel car and £1.67 for petrol powered. Making this small change can save over £200 a year.
3. Maintain your vehicle
Regular maintenance and servicing improve a vehicle’s efficiency and considerably improves its fuel consumption. Statistics show that fuel savings of up to 10% can be made by replacing a blocked air filter, worn spark plugs or old engine oil and will also help to retain its value when you come to sell.
By doing so, you could save yourself up to 63p on every 30 miles you travel – or £147 a year based on UK average annual mileage.
4. Don’t start the engine until you’re ready to go
It’s a real waste of fuel and your engine warms up more quickly when you’re moving anyway. So, set your sat nav, check the traffic, make that call and read those messages before starting your engine.
Idling can use up to two litres of fuel per hour, emitting over 5.26kg of CO2. This costs around £3.20 an hour, on average, for petrol cars and a little bit more – £3.40 – for diesel.
And, if your car is equipped with a stop start system, make sure it’s turned on to conserve fuel whilst stationary.
5. Brake and accelerate less
Both burn fuel, so try to drive smoothly. Accelerate gently and read the traffic situation ahead to avoid unnecessary braking. Roll up slowly for traffic lights or queues to avoid having to stop completely and coast to a stop rather than slamming on the brakes.
Aggressive accelerating and braking can use up to 60% more fuel, which quickly makes every journey much more costly – especially so when fuel prices are so high.
6. Plan your journey
Getting lost wastes fuel – not to mention causes some in-car tension – so enter address details in your sat nav and check out the route before setting off. It’s also worth listening to traffic news too. A ten-mile detour driving while trying to find your bearings, can cost over £2.
Sitting in traffic jams is also costly, so avoid them by planning your journey and checking for updates while en route. The average car burns two litres of fuel an hour in traffic jams – costing around £3.25, on average, for unleaded cars and £3.60 for diesel.
7. Keep your car aerodynamic by reducing the drag
Roof racks and boxes all add to fuel consumption - as do open windows and sunroofs - so pack carefully and remove them when not in use.
Driving with a roof box uses up to 25% more fuel than without by impacting its aerodynamics – costing £3.15 more over a 100-mile journey. Even an empty roof rack uses up to 15% more fuel.
8. Declutter your car
Less weight means less fuel, so if you don’t need what’s in your boot, take it out. Just remember to leave in any safety equipment.
9. Use the right specification of engine oil to improve efficiency
Check your vehicle handbook to see what that is. Modern engines are built with finer tolerances and therefore require thinner oils - those with lower viscosity – that can also improve fuel economy by around 3%. That’s over 26p per 50-mile journey in an average diesel car.
10. Turn on Eco mode
It reduces throttle responsiveness and engine power output so uses less fuel. On automatic cars, it will also shift up earlier to keep the vehicle in the most economical gear which is calculated from the engine load.
You can save around 5% of fuel by doing so – that’s 52p for an average diesel car on a 50-mile journey, and slightly less for a petrol-powered motor.
11. Combine short trips
Cold starts use more fuel, so combine trips and errands if you can.
Where possible, make one round trip rather than several short ones to avoid starting the engine from cold too many times. Cold engines will generally use twice as much fuel as a warm engine.
12. Walk or cycle
If you’re only travelling a mile or so, do you really need to use the car? The fresh air and exercise will do you good. With fuel prices hitting all-time highs recently, it makes sense to drive less, if we can, to save money.
CarShop’s Ben Scholes said: “After weeks of record highs at the pumps, we welcome the cut on petrol and diesel duty, but it doesn’t go far enough.
“It’s more important than ever to consider how we drive and maintain our motors too. Just a few changes to how we drive – and how we look after our cars – can save us a pretty penny on fuel costs over time. And, let’s face it, this has never been more important.”
