Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak scrapped a widely expected rise in fuel duty in the Budget on Wednesday, after UK fuel prices hit a record high over the weekend.
Data compiled by motoring organisation the RAC showed fuel prices climbing to record levels – on Sunday 24 October, the average price of petrol reach almost 142.9p a litre, which was 4.6p above the previous record set almost a decade ago in April 2012.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams calculated this price rise – 28p per litre higher than one year ago in October 2020 – would add £15 to the cost of filling a typical family car with a 55-litre fuel tank.
“This is truly a dark day for drivers, and one which we hoped we wouldn’t see again after the high prices of April 2012,” Williams said, adding that with global crude oil prices still rising, pump costs were set to keep on climbing; “This will hurt many household budgets and no doubt have knock-on implications for the wider economy.”
Diesel prices rose to an average of 146.5p per litre, significantly up on the around 118p per litre a year ago but still below the previous record of 147.9p.
Announcing that a planned rise in duty had been abandoned, the Chancellor told MPs that with fuel prices at their highest level in eight years, he was “not prepared to add to the squeeze on families and small businesses.”
Several observers predict that the soaring fuel costs, along with recent fuel-supply issues, will drive the switch to electric. In the most recent round of sales figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), more than 32,000 new battery-electric vehicles were registered in September, almost 50% up on September 2020.
The AA has calculated that, at current fuel prices, a 20-mile round trip would cost the driver of a typical petrol-powered car ten times more than the driver of an EV: electric costs would be around 25p, saving the EV driver around £800 per year.
