Fuel prices

Just been checking fuel prices in Europe to see where best to schedule fuel stops as we are crossing several Countries.

Guess what ? UK is the most expensive in the whole of Europe !! Well knock me down with a feather . Will certainly not be filling up before leaving. 'Last to leave  switch off the lights' jumps to mind.

As the tourist season approaches and the emmetts arrive (friendly term!) you can guarantee prices will go up by 5p a litre down here....

Fuel prices varied around the country on my recent trip, 105/108p, some motorway prices are just plan highway robbery 118p on the M1 this morning.
Boaby

Bit different to 87p in France then .  And doesn't theirs include road tax?

Almost in France 3 weeks ago,had to stop in Folkstone and continue along the coast to the New Forrest, funny enough the Fuel in Folkstone just before the Chunnel was very pricey, wonder why?
Boaby

And why in Britain is diesel more expensive than petrol does it need more refining I think not at least it doesn't on the continent

And in the rest of the World, Nanaimo, Canada which is expensive being on Vancouver Island, today, unleaded 68p per litre and diesel 60p per litre, as crisp says why in the UK is diesel more than unleaded, perish the thought it has anything to do with us all being advised to buy diesel cars...

I don't think we were all ever advised to buy diesel cars. Diesel is advised for high mileage drivers because they potential saving in consumption can pay back and eventually save on the premium charged for diesel cars. Those towing caravans are advised to opt for diesel because of the comparatively high torque capability at relatively low revs compared to petrol. That's about as much advice as was ever given about buying diesel cars.

Somehow Joe Public suddenly got the idea that diesel was good for all, which it really isn't, especially now with high power smaller petrol engines.

Ooops I used the wrong exchange rate diesel 51p per litre and unleaded 58p per litre!

Wasn't Gordon Brown the man that led the 'dash for diesel'? In the last 10 years we have gone from 1.6 million on the road to 11 million now. Very soon we will all be driving electric cars and saying "Why did we all buy petrol"!

I made a Car Wow enquiry to purchase an all-electric Renault Zoe for Mrs SDA as she never does a trip of more than a dozen miles. 

The best price, by far, came from the Renault dealer in Tunbridge Wells, 220 miles away. I was intrigued by their offer to provide a free tank of fuel if I collected the car and with the thought that I'd have to allow for the batteries to be recharged three times on the way home. It's a straight 4 hour journey normally but I wonder how long it would've taken in a Zoe.

A bit off my original topic BUT I have the strangest of feelings that people (not pointing at people here) forget that the electricity (And of course batteries) for 'green' cars has to be produced which funnily enough produces emissions and from what I have read is not on the whole particularly efficient  

Wasn't there an argument put forward that one of the greenest cars was the land rover defender as most just get recycled

groundhog wrote:Wasn't there an argument put forward that one of the greenest cars was the land rover defender as most just get recycled

Yes true. Because the longevity of the vehicle in general amortises the production pollution. Mine is now 23 years old and a little (well big) treasure   .

Is amortise the correct word  You know what I mean anyway 

I am sure we were encouraged to buy low pollution diesels my road tax dropped from over £200 to just £30 thanks to the smaller amount of pollution my 1400 diesel caused than the 1200 petrol I had before>

Cant have the argument both ways can you? Or is it just a way of keeping the car industry going, change the rules every few years and keep the customer on his toes!!

crisp wrote:I am sure we were encouraged to buy low pollution diesels my road tax dropped from over £200 to just £30 thanks to the smaller amount of pollution my 1400 diesel caused than the 1200 petrol I had before>

Cant have the argument both ways can you? Or is it just a way of keeping the car industry going, change the rules every few years and keep the customer on his toes!!

Well firstly what would the road tax have been on a similar replacement petrol car of the same age? Secondly what was the difference in purchase price and potential residual value between petrol and diesel versions? Thirdly what was the actual expected mpg difference between the two? After doing those sum I bet the difference in annual road tax was relatively immaterial.

True steamdrivenandy but the fact that the government decided that the tax was lower was because it was less polluting, and anyway I wanted to be grumpy on this particular area of the forum 

I think I mentioned this before but if not this is my four peneth about fuel prices. One of the roads heading north out of Norfolk, sorry I was on sat nav mode. There are two  filling stations on opposites sides of the road charging different prices. Why cant we have fixed fuel prices and let the garages make up the extra income selling things like sweat, crisps and the usual junk we never really need. I go into filling stations to buy fuel. A local filling station has a supermarket and two fast food outlets. And of course there fuel is the highest price for miles.

Why would you want fixed fuel prices and who would set them? 

There'd be all sorts of issues such as pricing to suit the high cost areas such as outlying rural parts would mean parts near refineries where costs are low would make a killing and be overcharging. Conversely price it for the low cost areas and all the rural service stations would close because they couldn't afford to run at such prices.

Currently service stations price according to the cost of their supplies and their need for profit and/or to attract custom to their linked superstore etc. They sink or swim on their business nowse. It's called competition.

I suspect a fixed price would never cope with the rapid fluctuations in oil price that we've seen over recent months and if it was Government controlled they'd have a vested interest in keeping pump prices high to maximise tax revenue.

It's all very well to suggest that service stations shouldn't make a profit, except on peripheral sales but if everybody just wanted fuel they'd soon be out of business.

Jaytee wrote:A bit off my original topic BUT I have the strangest of feelings that people (not pointing at people here) forget that the electricity (And of course batteries) for 'green' cars has to be produced which funnily enough produces emissions and from what I have read is not on the whole particularly efficient  

Yes a big government con.
                                     My Chimp says you need a solar panel and maybe a windmill on the roof of an electric car.

Micky

Trouble is the solar panel would need to be many times the size of the car it was driving to produce enough energy, even on sunny days. Of course you could maybe store some in batteries but they add weight and mean you need even more energy to move the weight. Doh!

I was looking at the stunning Tesla model S yesterday and had a long chat to the technical people, range of 330 miles which I could live with and prices start at £53000. In the near future this has to be the way things will go and Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW etc all bring out hybrid or all electric cars in the next couple of years, folly to buy anything else new now?

I will be on the dealers doorstep in a couple of years anyway....

Well if we are going down this road why aren't we using water wheels for some of the electrical production we ran a whole industrial revolution on water power. Its a lot cheaper than aerodynamic blades looks nice in old photos and can work several times in one river with little loss to the environment!

steamdrivenandy wrote:Trouble is the solar panel would need to be many times the size of the car it was driving to produce enough energy, even on sunny days. Of course you could maybe store some in batteries but they add weight and mean you need even more energy to move the weight. Doh!

I think you will find MiKethebike was joking. The Monkey was the giveaway 

What's wrong with a spinnaker or cruising chute, ok you may have to raise some of the bridges a bit but you could earn loads through advertising....