The Iran war is still active. The price of fuel in the UK remains high. Typical prices at writing per litre are £1.58 for unleaded E10, £1.85 for super unleaded E5 and £1.91 for diesel. I have in the last few weeks queued up at Costco – a wholesale/retail outlet with petrol stations. They were offering fuel cheaper than most other nearby stations. The caveat to filling up there has been the queues! Waited 10 minutes in a 12 pump queue. Then when filled up there was long queue to exit the premises. First world problem I know but how long will the tentative panic to regularly fill-up continue?
We all need the transport fuel and many of use cannot change our driving habits or reduce the number of journeys as the commuting, shopping, kids school runs are static duties. For the short term we will have to suck it up. Longer term, maybe a change in vehicle ownership could be an option for some. Ironically my almost daily SUV that runs on diesel is more expensive in fuel to drive now than using my older Italian sports car that I run on super unleaded. As the weather has improved, I’m using my sleeker 19 year old E5 powered vehicle for more journeys – great excuse!
Electric car sales that previously slowed, have risen since the Iran war and an electric vehicle seems a wiser choice in light of the potential scarcity and high price of fossil fuel. The choice of electric cars, especially from the Chinese shores has increased and consequently given buyers a wider and cheaper vehicle purchase options compared to equivalent more expensive British & German vehicles. The Chinese source models such as the Jaecoo 7 which is similar to the equivalent much higher priced Range Rover from JLR, are a tempting purchase. However, as the retail price of vehicles resemble house prices twenty five years ago, the trend now is to lease or contract hire a new vehicle subject to your monthly budget. Not many individuals would be happy or could afford to pay over £100k in one transaction for their luxury SUV purchase, so the leasing model works.
Personally, I wonder about the longevity of the Chinese models. Are they built to last? Or do they just satisfy a few years of ownership? Will their software be supported in a few years time ? Will updates over the air be blocked to China based servers ? Will a UK specialist network of garages emerge to support the older Chinese vehicles ?
Demand for diesel powered variants continue to decline, month on month, but major manufacturers are still offering a diesel variant and this fuel choice is still alive for commercial vehicles. Whilst the US – Iran war is active, diesel fuel prices are at their highest ever and are now a premium over E10 and E5 petrol rates. It is a changeable unpredictable landscape currently. For the moment, we will just have run with whatever fuel supplies exist and the prices charged, or consider switching to alternative transport. I have a Sinclair C5 in my garage, as the weather is better, maybe I should consider using it for local trips..
