Save on fuel costs and reduce emissions

Find the cheapest fuel

A nifty tool to find the lowest cost fuel near you is petrolprices.com. The differences can be huge!

Watch your speed on longer journeys

Driving at 70mph uses up to 10% more fuel than at 60mph, and up to 15% more than at 50mph. If you are a complete rev head and drive at 85mph your car will consume 40% more fuel than if you travel at 55mph.

Driving for fuel economy

Don’t accelerate or decelerate sharply

​You can reduce fuel consumption by 20% if you accelerate / decelerate gently.

Avoid having to slam on the brakes!

Anticipate traffic and red lights and brake gently. This will reduce wear on brake pads and prolong their life, saving you money.

Keep your engine revs low​

Change gear as soon as possible without labouring the engine – try changing up at an engine speed of around 2000 rpm in a diesel car, or around 2500 rpm in a petrol car.

Switch off your engine

If you think you’re going to be stopped in traffic for more than about 10-15 seconds, reduce fuel consumption by switching off your engine. It also helps reduce air pollution.

Make sure tyres are at the optimum pressure

​Save 1% of fuel by making sure your tyres are at the correct pressure. Under inflated tyres create more rolling resistance and so use more fuel.

Use the right gear for the speed you are travelling

A vehicle travelling at 37mph in third gear uses 25% more fuel than it would at the same speed in fifth gear!

Remove any unnecessary weight

Take that rubbish out of the boot! Losing 45 kg could improve economy by around 2%.

Coast! (If safe to do so)

When going down hills and approaching red lights, put the gears in neutral and let the engine revs drop.

Keep windows and sun roofs closed

This reduces wind resistance and can save 2% on fuel.

Take off roof bars and the top box

This reduces wind resistance, makes your car is as aerodynamic as possible, and therefore saves on fuel costs.

Drive a small, efficient car

You could save 50% on fuel costs compared to driving a big gas guzzling 4×4!

Keep your car tuned and serviced

It can improve mpg by up to 4%, and on top of that using the correct oil is good for an extra 2%.

Take care how you use air conditioning

At low speeds it can reduce fuel economy by more than 10% if on a high setting.

Monitor your fuel economy

It may be boring, but it matters in two ways. Firstly, check over multiple tanks of fuel or for consistent trips (like commuting to work). Measuring fuel economy helps you to see if making changes to your driving has an effect on your mpg. Secondly, if you have instantaneous estimate of fuel economy on your dash-board you can use it to help you optimize your driving style for mpg.  This is particularly useful for improving the way you accelerate and finding the speed at which your car is most economical.