publication date: Mar 31, 2011
|
author/source: Robin Roberts
| UK motorists are only
paying slightly more for fuel now than in 1980 due to the better fuel economy
of today's cars, says Which? |
| The consumer champion
discovered this surprising ‘fuel spend parity' by comparing its test figures
for Fords past and present, and adjusting for inflation. | Efficiency is not limited to fuel economy & prices alone as this table shows
 |
| In 1980 the family
favourite Ford Cortina 2.0 petrol averaged 27 miles per gallon (mpg). Fuel cost
28p a litre, which when adjusted for inflation would give an annual fuel bill
of £1,889 (based on the UK average of 12,000 miles a year). Today the closest
equivalent to the Cortina, the Mondeo* 2.0-litre petrol, averages 34.9mpg in
Which? tests. Based on a petrol costs of £1.29 per litre** this gives an
average annual spend of £1,915. |
| That's little more
than UK motorists were spending on fuel in 1980 when oil prices were also high,
but the equivalent figures for 1990 (£1,408) and 2000 (£1,634) show that the
price of filling up has risen rather more markedly in the last two decades. |
Which? also found that
shopping around for fuel could save you more than £200 a year after it
investigated how petrol prices vary across thousands of UK stations. The
consumer champion found that supermarket brands were generally cheapest,
especially Asda, while, on average, BP was the most expensive.
Richard Headland, editor, Which? Car, said, "Even
in these times of record pump prices, there are ways to minimise how much you
spend on fuel. The simplest is to shop around for the best deal in your area,
which could save you a packet."
Simply type in your post-code below to find the cheapest fuel in your area |
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