Rebecca Cook, from York, Yorkshire, has documented diesel and petrol costs since 2010 and says she is not yet ready to purchase an electric vehicle. Fuel prices have soared dramatically during this timeframe, with diesel reaching a record high earlier this week.
Record fuel prices
According to the RAC, diesel prices in the UK have surpassed the 199p threshold, while petrol now exceeds 174p per litre in certain locations. Rebecca's spreadsheet records not only the cost per litre, but also the date of purchase, the quantity bought, and the overall expenditure.
Rebecca travels to the tearoom she operates in Easingwold, roughly a 30-minute journey away from her home. Despite the escalating costs, she has confirmed she will not be making the switch to an electric vehicle as she has only recently upgraded to a hybrid.
Hybrid preference
She told the BBC it would be more difficult to calculate the refuelling expenses for a zero emissions vehicle. Rebecca said: "If you go full EV, how do you calculate? I guess there's a point to doing that, but I won't be for years as I've just bought a new car," reports YorkshireLive.
Nonetheless, Rebecca's records demonstrate a sharp increase in diesel costs, particularly over the last 11 years. When she refuelled her Renault Scenic, a litre of the fuel was priced at merely 97p per litre.
Government urged to act
Today (Wednesday, September 30) figures from the RAC indicate it costs as much as 199.53p in certain areas, representing an increase of 51.39 percent. Addressing the record-breaking prices, the highest since June 2022, the organisation's head of policy Simon Williams discussed how global events such as the Russia-Ukraine War and US-Iran War were significantly impacting household budgets.
He said: "The average price of a litre of diesel has now reached the highest level in UK history at 199.18p, in what will be a financial blow to households and businesses that use their vehicles regularly.
"The cost of filling up an average family car is now almost £110, £31 more than it was at the start of the US/Iran conflict. By eclipsing the previous highest price of 199.09p seen in June 2022, the diesel price has entered new uncharted territory."
While the UK has limited power when it comes to controlling the spiralling cost of fuel, Mr Williams urged Andy Burnham's government to attempt to assist Britain's motorists. He added: "The Government could take steps to ease the burden on drivers by lowering fuel duty further or reducing VAT. As things stand, another 5p a litre will be loaded onto pump prices by the Spring if the current fuel duty cut is fully reversed as planned."
Prime Minister's response
When asked whether he would halt a planned fuel duty increase later this year, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told BBC Breakfast: "I'm considering everything that might help people in very difficult times and I will be honest and say every possible measure is being looked at. The question I've got is, 'how many can I afford?'
'What can we do given the state of the public finances?' And people wouldn't thank me for making unfunded payments that then cause pressure on mortgages – and we've seen that in the past and we're not going back there."
