New analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found that the price rise of oil has added £1.7bn to the cost of running the nation’s petrol and diesel cars in the first 100 days of the US-Iran conflict.
Since the conflict started petrol car drivers have paid £175 more than if they had been driving an EV.
Collectively, cars running on petrol and diesel have cost over £6.3bn more to fuel in the last 100 days than if they had been EVs. The UK’s diesel car drivers have paid £255 more to fuel their cars than if they had been driving an EV.
The 7th June will mark the 100th day of the conflict between the US and Iran, which started on the 28th February. During this time the price of oil has increased as a result of disruptions to supply through the Strait of Hormuz, driving up the cost of petrol and diesel at the pump in the UK.
Petrol is now 27p a litre higher than it was on the eve of the conflict, while diesel has jumped by 43p a litre. Recent industry data has shown an EV sales surge in the UK (mirroring Europe and other countries) as drivers try to reduce their fuel bills – more than one in four (27%) cars sold in May were electric.
Colin Walker, Head of Transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:
“With parts of the car industry calling for a slowdown of EV policy, the casualty would be regular families being stuck with more expensive petrol, diesel and hybrid cars in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. The numbers speak for themselves – the savings that come from driving an EV were already significant before the war started; the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has made them even more so. EV policy has helped drive competition between manufacturers to the point where both new and second-hand EVs are cheaper than their petrol equivalents – and with pump prices high, sales are surging.
“Despite industry claims to the contrary, policy targets are being met, and any further attempts to water them down risks incentivising manufacturers to sell more PHEVs which cost more to buy than an EV, and significantly more to run that their manufacturers claim. Unlike EVs, they are not an effective answer to people’s cost-of-living concerns. Watering the targets down would also mean fewer EVs on the second-hand market where most of us buy our cars, and where regular families can save hundreds of pounds, even thousands, a year on their driving bills.”
Image courtesy of Green Car Guide
