A prominent fuel campaigner has revealed how drivers can reduce their fuel consumption by up to 25 per cent during their every day drives.
The latest government figures revealed that the average price of petrol has now risen to 152.9p, while diesel prices are now at 158.98p on average in the UK.
And the cost is expected to worsen over the coming weeks as countries start to introduce bans on the use of Russian oil in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is the second largest producers of crude oil in the world.
With drivers facing out of control petrol prices at the pumps, journalist Quentin Wilson spoke to Good Morning Britain and revealed some tips on how drivers can save their fuel.
This includes changing some driving habits to doing general maintenance on the car.
The former Top Gear host explained: “Make sure your car has been serviced, that old filters are changed and the air filters are not blocked.
“Check that your brakes aren’t dragging, check your tyre pressure.
“There’s also the trip computer, which tells you your MPG - set that, start it from zero so you know how much fuel you’re using and how much you can save.
“Just drive gently, progressively, look at the road ahead, don’t barrel towards the junction or a round about and then brake. When you push the accelerator you create energy, and then when you brake destroy it again.
“So drive slowly, anticipate, and get into a higher gear as quickly as you can. Stick to speed limits, 50 to 60 miles per hour is the optimum speed and motorways are great for saving fuel.”
He later added: “The air conditioning will add 10 per cent to your fuel consumption and even heating in the car will load the alternator which loads the engine and therefore uses more fuel.
“The RAC did a test with an Audi A6, which does 35 to the gallon, and got 74 miles per gallon because they drove it carefully.”
Fuel campaigners have warned that drivers could face paying more than £2 a litre for petrol on average within weeks.
RAC fuel spokesperson Simon Williams said: “Another day of record average pump price highs is putting petrol on a rapid journey towards 160p a litre and diesel to 165p.
"And as these are averages, far higher prices will be appearing on forecourt totems up and down the country.“
