The
most obvious way of saving fuel is to consider your car purchase carefully.
You cannot expect to buy a hulking great 4x4 and have the fuel efficiency
of a Fiat Panda. A larger vehicle will use more fuel. Generally a
vehicle twice the size and weight will use twice the fuel. Consider
the main usage of the vehicle. A 4x4 can be great for getting the
kids to school but unless you have 23 kids it is unnecessary and don't
forget you have to haul its weight around everywhere you go even when
the
kids are in school.
You can expect fuel M.P.G. in the low teens around town whereas most cars
would get above 25. Multiply that difference by how many days that you drive
and then by the price of petrol! A 4x4 can be a lot more expensive than
its price tag.
But
its not only large vehicles that can cost extra in fuel bills. High
performance cars can and will use more fuel than their contemporaries.
If like me you are stuck with the car you have already bought there
are other ways of saving fuel.
Fuel Saving
Tips
Œ
Buying
fuel in the morning or late at night rather in the middle of the day
can save you money. The heat of the day causes the petrol to expand
whereas the cool of the night causes the fuel to become more dense.
Since the fuel pump measures the volume of the fuel being dispensed
and not the density you will actually get more fuel for your money!!
Don't
drive unless you have to. How many of us will nip to the local corner
shop in the car? Cutting this type of journey out will not only keep
you fitter but drastically reduce your fuel bills. The choke on your
engine (Normally automatic) only turns off when you engine has warmed
up and while its on makes the petrol mixture rich, hence your engine
uses more fuel. Short journeys don't give the choke time to turn off
and all these short journeys will be using the worst petrol consumption
that your engine can achieve. Obviously you engine does not use any
fuel at all when you walk.
Ž
Check
you tyre pressures. Deflated tyres are harder to turn and therefore
the engine has to do more work. This will use up more fuel. Every
pound that your tyres are under their correct inflation pressure will
result in a 2% increase in your fuel used!
Keep
your revs down. The higher the revs the more fuel the engine will
use. Changing gears earlier will save fuel. Driving in the wrong gears
can increase the amount of fuel used by up to 40%. Also watch your
acceleration as this uses up more fuel for the least gain in actual
mileage covered.
Watch
you speed. The faster that you drive and the harder you accelerate,
the more fuel you will use. There is an increase of 20% in fuel consumption
between 55 mph and 70 mph. and that increases as your speed does.
‘
Air
conditioning in your car can be very nice but in order to cool and
dry the air you engine has to turn an extra pump. This is hard work
and will increase your fuel consumption accordingly by upto 20%.
’
Keep
your windows closed at higher speeds. Opening your windows will destroy
the streamlining of your car and increase drag. This can increase
you fuel consumption by 10%
“
There
is no need to let your car idle in the morning more than 30 seconds.
Most modern cars are fine to just start the car and set off. Leaving
your car to idle in the morning while it warms up costs money in fuel
for no mileage whatsoever and is unnecessary.
”
Keep
you vehicle free from clutter. Clutter is weight and weight increase
fuel consumption.
•
Service
your car regularly. Keeping the engine in check will make sure that
your consumption does not go up like it can when the engine is not
running efficiently.
If you check
your fuel consumption on a regular basis then you can tell if your engine
is not running as efficiently. This could be an early indicator of a problem
in your engine. Use the following checks to check what mpg your car should
be doing and then use the calculator to see what it actually is doing.... Check
a car for fuel consumption:
Working out
your M.P.G.
• Reset your trip-mileometer at the petrol pump and fill then tank
up to full.
• Drive your car. (The longer the journey the more accurate
the results)
• Return to petrol pump and note the mileage on your trip-mileometer.
• Then fill the car back up to full.
The fuel that you have to put in the car is the amount of fuel used by the
previous journey.
• Use the form below to work out you M.P.G.
Company Cars Advisory Fuel Rates for Company Cars from 1 July 2005
These rates apply to all journeys on or after 1 July 2005 until further
notice:
Engine
Size
Petrol
Diesel
LPG
1400cc
or less
10p
9p
7p
1401cc
to 2000cc
12p
9p
8p
Over
2000cc
16p
13p
10p
These rates are calculated from the fuel prices in the table below:
Fuel
Engine
Size
(cc)
Mean
MPG
Applied
MPG
Fuel
price
(per litre)
Fuel
price
(per gallon)
Pence
per mile
AFR
Petrol
up to
1400
45.5
41.0
88.2
400.8
9.8
10
Petrol
1400
- 2000
37.1
33.4
88.2
400.8
12.0
12
Petrol
over
2000
27.1
24.4
88.2
400.8
16.4
16
Diesel
up to
2000
50.7
45.6
91.7
416.9
9.1
9
Diesel
Over
2000
34.9
31.4
91.7
416.9
13.3
13
LPG
up to
1400
n/a
32.8
42.0
191.0
5.8
7
LPG
1400
- 2000
n/a
26.7
42.0
191.0
7.1
8
LPG
over
2000
n/a
19.5
42.0
191.0
9.8
10
Notes: Mean mpg - miles per gallon
- from manufacturers information, weighted by annual sales to businesses
(Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), 2004). This data reflects
increases in fuel economy since the original calculations were done in late
2001. Applied mpg - adjusted downwards by 10% to take account of real driving
conditions and lower fuel economy for older cars
For LPG, mpg is assumed to be 20% lower than for petrol due to lower volumetric
energy density
Department of Trade & Industry's latest petrol and diesel prices (June 2005),
LPG from AA website (May 2005), both adjusted to include change in fuel
duty announced to take effect in September 2005.
LPG advisory rates are set slightly higher than the calculated pence per
mile because we realise that some employers may have reached agreements
with their employees on the basis of the former rates. We do not guarantee
to repeat this in future and suggest that employers make agreements with
employees on the basis of the rates, not the current figures.
Will the rate per mile figures change if fuel prices go up or down?
We aim to provide employers with as much certainty as possible by keeping
the fuel rates unchanged where there are modest variations in fuel prices.
In line with the commitment made when they were introduced, they will be
reviewed during a tax year only in the event of a variation in fuel prices
of greater than 10% from the prices used at that time.
