Surviving A Fuel Strike

Driving smarter can greatly reduce your fuel use, saves money and reduces your carbon footprint. Faced with a fuel strike it will also help you last longer between top ups.

For someone spending roughly £50 a week on fuel, an equivalent 20% efficiency increase would save around £500 a year. So how much was your pay rise this year?

It is possible to drive the same distance in the same time, yet use considerably less fuel, chopping up to 30% OFF your fuel costs without cutting your top speed. It's simply about driving more smoothly to boost your fuel efficiency. Driving smoothly will also significantly cut your CO2 emissions.

·         Accelerate gradually without over-revving.

Speed up smoothly. When you press harder on the pedal more fuel flows, but you could get to the same speed using much less power. A good rule is to stay under 3,000 revs.

·         Drive in the correct gear.

Always drive in the highest gear possible without labouring the engine.

·         Slow naturally.

Rather than brake all the time, let your car slow naturally and use its stored momentum.

·         Think about your road position.

To do all this takes road awareness. The more alert you are, the better you can plan ahead and move gradually. Keep an eye on brake lights beyond the first car in front of you and decelerate before you have to apply the brake yourself.

Every time you put your foot on the accelerator, remember the harder you press, the more fuel you are burning. Braking is reducing the momentum that you have just burned fuel to achieve.

Just being conscious of this, and your road position, should massively increase how far you can drive on a tank of petrol. It's estimated someone who averages 35 miles per gallon could reach 40 mpg by driving better.

Generally, the faster you accelerate, the quicker you come to the next stop, and everyone else then catches you up. Fuel consumption shoots up when you travel above 55mph. An increase to 75mph raises fuel consumption by 20%.

If you are at a standstill for more than 30 seconds it is more efficient to turn your engine off and re-start it.

Additional savings can be made by addressing the following:

·         Keep your tyres inflated.

Lower tyre pressure increases the drag on a car, meaning you need more fuel, so regularly check the pressures are correct and your car needs less oomph to keep it moving.

·         De-Clutter your car.

The lighter your car is, the less effort it needs to accelerate. By de-cluttering, clearing out junk from the boot, and not carrying unnecessary weight, you can make extra savings.

·         Take your roof rack off.

A roof rack, even unused, adds massive wind resistance to a car, increasing drag and making the engine work harder. So if you don't need it, take it and anything else that's inefficient off. Even closing the windows will make the car run slightly more efficiently. If you have a bike rack on top you might as well be dragging a small parachute.

·         Don't fill it up.

In an ideal world you would run your tank to a safe minimum and top up regularly in small amounts. Fuel is heavy, so by filling the car up you're adding quite a weight. The less fuel your car has in it, the more efficiently it drives. As your fuel level decreases you get the benefits. Here’s hoping you can outlast the strike.

·         Keep your car tuned regularly.

A poorly tuned engine can use up to 50% more fuel.

And finally, do you need to drive?

Save 100% on your fuel costs by walking or cycling