Petrol sales slump – Our viewpoint

With fuel prices falling during the spring of this year, one would be forgiven for expecting the amount of petrol and diesel sold to go up.

But new figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change tell quite a different story.

Almost 500 million fewer litres of petrol were sold between April and June 2012 then in the same period last year.

The drop is even more substantial compared to figures for the same period in 2008 - the last period before the UK slid into recession – when two billion more litres of petrol were sold.

The AA’s president Edmund King said the fall amounted to a “crash in demand”, not only in the second quarter of 2012 but over the past five years and blamed the fuel industry for “trying to squeeze more money” out of motorists.

"A 10.6% fall in petrol sales this past quarter is a huge drop.

"While we welcome the fact that new cars have become more fuel-efficient, this goes nowhere near to accounting for the crash in demand over the past three months and the past five years,” Mr King said.

He claims the price at the pumps fell by up to 10p between April and June for petrol, from a record high of £1.42 a litre to £1.31 a litre.

While lower petrol prices are good for a company such as cab4one, we believe changing your driving style to become more fuel efficient will ultimately save motorists more money. 

And it is better for the environment too.

All Saffron Walden Taxi staff are trained to drive with fuel efficiency in mind.  For example, our mature and experience drivers avoiding “over-revving” the engine by shifting to a higher gear as soon as is it safe to do so.

Our drivers use their wealth of experience to anticipate the road ahead and drive more smoothly, avoiding harsh braking and acceleration that can eat into fuel consumption. By anticipating traffic flows and driving proactively, they help to keep fuel consumption down, reduce emissions and give our passengers a more relaxing journey.

Our fleet – in itself made up of highly fuel efficient vehicles that can carry one to eight passengers – is maintained to the highest possible standard to ensure they are in optimum mechanical condition. Something as simple as maintaining the correct tyre inflation pressure has a remarkable effect upon fuel consumption.

Moreover, cab4one will soon be investing in electric vehicles for our fleet, perhaps the best way to avoid paying pump prices to get around. And of course we will be endeavouring to ensure that electricity comes from renewable sources.

Research from Autoglass suggests drivers in general are learning to conserve fuel by driving in a more efficient manner.

About half (45%) of male drivers and 42% of female drivers told the windscreen repair firm they were “more tentative” about putting their foot down, and switched to a higher gear as much as possible.

In addition, 40% of people surveyed added that they no longer found driving relaxing, and one in four people confessed they enjoyed life behind the wheel less than they used to.

The answer?  Take a fuel efficient Bishops Stortford Taxi and let us take the stress out of driving.  Not only kind to your wallet, we are kind to the environment too.