Another day, another dollar, except this time it’s a lot more dollars that we’re having to fork out to fill the car. With the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the price of crude oil has rapidly increased and consumers are feeling the pain at the pump.
While the price of oil has jumped up by roughly $30 a barrel, it’s Australian households that are bearing the brunt. Originally forecast to increase by 40 cents a litre, fuel prices have now jumped by as much as 65 cents a litre, which is costing Aussies an extra $31.85 a week.
With the country already facing a cost-of-living crisis, it’s more important than ever to try and save money where we can, rather than go without. We’re going to rank the best ways to save on fuel based on effort.
Compare fuel prices with apps
Take a look at different apps that show live fuel pricing. In South Australia, for example, there’s RAA, in NSW it’s NRMA, while QLD has RACQ.
There are also community-based apps like Petrol Spy, which relies on customers to report their local fuel prices. In fact, Petrol Spy is so popular in Australia right now that it has surged to number 1 on the App Store.
It’s possibly the easiest way at the moment to save on fuel.
For example, when we took this screenshot of Parramatta in Sydney, NSW, E10 fuel prices varied by 15.4 cents. On a 50L tank, that's a difference of $7.70.
7-Eleven also allows customers to lock in fuel prices in the app for up to seven days. While this one is handy during the highs and lows of the regular fuel cycle, it’ll only save you if the price of petrol continues to go up.
Whether it’s Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards or Coles’ Flybuys program, you might be able to reduce your fuel cost by 4 cents a litre. While it isn’t a huge saving, it’s an easy one, given most Australians shop at the major supermarkets, allowing you to keep an extra $2 back in your pocket.
There are also other fuel partnerships for the likes of NRMA and RAA members. Some of these can be combined with the supermarket offers to get up to 10 cents per litre off fuel.
| Partnership | Discount | Petrol station | State eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woolworths | Spend $30 or more at Woolworths and save 4c per litre | Participating Ampol Foodary and EG Ampol sites | Australia wide |
| Coles | Spend $30 or more at Coles supermarket to get 4c off per litre | Participating Shell Reddy Express or Coles Express | Australia wide |
| NRMA Rewards Members | Save up to 5c per litre on fuel | Participating Ampol Foodary locations | Australia wide |
| Drakes Supermarkets | Spend $30 or more at Drakes to get 4c off per litre | Participating Mobil, X Convenience, BP, AMPM, Liberty, Ampol and Mogas stations | SA and QLD |
| RAA | RAA members get 10c off fuel in South Australia | Metro Caltex Regional Ampol, BP, Shell, Caltex | SA |
| Ampol | Save 6c per litre on your first 3 fills up to 150L | Ampol | All states excluding TAS |
| RACV | RACV members save 5c per litre | EG Ampol | VIC |
| RAC | Save 4c per litre off fuel | Participating Caltex stations | WA |
| RACQ | Save 4c per litre off fuel | Participating Caltex stations | QLD |
| AANT | Save 8c per litre at United service stations | United service stations | NT |
| RACT | Save 6c per litre off fuel | Bennets Petroleum, Bonney Energy, select Ampol’s | TAS |
Lift and coast
If you watched last weekend’s F1 Australian Grand Prix, there’s a chance you may have heard drivers being told to ‘lift and coast’. Translated, this means to take your foot off the accelerator sooner when travelling into a corner or coming up to a red light.
Of course, you have to be sure that you’re still driving safely, but if you know you have to slow down or even come to a complete stop, why accelerate?
Don’t be a lead foot
While you shouldn’t be drag racing anyway, planting your foot down uses more fuel. Rapid acceleration, like taking off hard from the lights, forces the engine to work harder, which burns more petrol.
Driving aggressively like this can hurt your fuel economy by 40% in stop-and-go traffic.
Lose the excess weight
Whether it’s the set of golf clubs you leave in the back in case you knock off work early, the power tools you took to your parents’ house on the weekend or even your towball if you rarely tow, every extra bit of weight puts a little more strain on your car.
While it isn’t going to make you rich, emptying out your car could bump your economy up by 0.1L or so.
Likewise, take the roof racks off your car if you’re not using them. The drag they generate is also reducing your fuel economy.
Check your tyre pressure
Tyrepower claims that your tyres being just 10% under inflated will increase fuel consumption by 2%.
Next time you’re at the fuel station, take a quick look at your owner’s manual and inflate your tyres to the right PSI. You should get a slight uptick in fuel economy and, best of all, it won’t cost you a thing.
Upgrade to a hybrid or electric vehicle
If you're shopping for a new car, you could switch from a petrol or diesel car to a hybrid or fully electric vehicle. We’ve seen a surge in finance applications for electric vehicles as popularity continues to grow.
Even those driving gas-guzzling utes now have options like BYD’s Shark 6, GWM’s Cannon Alpha and now Ford Ranger.
With car loan rates starting from just 5.75% p.a. for EVs, it’s an affordable option for people looking to switch. You could get one even cheaper with a novated lease and a fringe benefits tax exemption – though you might want to act sooner rather than later as the government could soon remove it due to its popularity smashing original budget forecasts.