British drivers rushed to fill their tanks at the fastest pace in years during March 2026, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent UK pump prices surging.
New analysis from New Automotive shows that rather than cutting back as costs soared, consumers and commercial operators accelerated their purchases to front-run further inflation, defying the conventional logic that high prices cure high demand.
Petrol jumped roughly 20% in March to 158p per litre. Diesel climbed even more steeply, rising 35% from 141p/l to over 190p/l. On 3rd March alone – the day after US strikes on Iran – petrol sales ran 30% above their typical February levels.
The data point also revealed that UK motorists do not have the ability to simply drive less, as it is how people get to work, access services, and run businesses, New Automotive added.
Demand is “sticky”, it said, and with prices rising sharply and unpredictably, with “the rational response is to buy now rather than later”.
The analysis finds that short-term fiscal responses – such as cutting fuel duty – carry heavy Treasury costs while ultimately subsidising imported fossil fuels, and “do not address the underlying exposure”.
New Automotive argues the only long-term solution is accelerating the transition to electric vehicles, making the UK’s EV mandates a matter of economic security and inflation control, not just environmental policy.
Fleet operators have been among the hardest hit. With diesel above 190p/l, commercial running costs have risen sharply week on week, compressing margins and accelerating the business case for electrification.
Ben Nelmes, CEO of New Automotive, said:
“President Trump’s attacks on Iran at the start of March triggered panic buying at UK fuel stations. Motorists know that fuel prices rise quickly and fall slowly. Most drivers cannot just drive less, and so the only option is to try to fill the tank before prices soar. Ministers should focus on the only way to bring the cost of motoring back under control, which is to get as many electric cars on the road as possible.”
Simon Smith, CEO of Voltempo, said:
“Petrol is at £1.50 a litre and climbing. Diesel is worse. Fleet operators running on diesel are feeling this in their cost base every week. The case for electrification was already there on the numbers. The fuel price has simply made it faster to reach the same conclusion. The direction is clear. Now it is about execution.”
Tanya Sinclair, CEO of Electric Vehicles UK, said:
“Drivers rushed to buy fuel. Others rushed to go electric. Both reactions say the same thing: people need the cost of driving to be manageable and predictable. Electric driving offers that stability. Fuel costs don’t.”
Gurjeet Grewal, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said:
“We’re seeing a sadly familiar story – global instability causes chaos at petrol pumps. Electric cars offer a way out – letting drivers tap into cheaper, homegrown energy and gain more control over what it costs to get from A to B. EV drivers have been largely unaffected by this crisis. That is why more people are switching as petrol prices rise.”
Image from Shutterstock
