Cars and Latest Bikes

The trauma of the financial markets and rising oil costs have taken their toll on motorists, with research by MoneySupermarket.com suggesting that 5% of British motorists have been forced off the road by the rising cost required to keep their cars on the road.

With oil price increases linked to dwindling demand and no end in sight to the rising cost of car insurance, what options are available for these motorists who are struggling to keep their cars on the road?

 

Switch to diesel cars

One of the possible alternatives to petrol cars is to purchase a diesel fuelled motor. Diesel cars tend to cost more to buy initially and also cost slightly more per litre of fuel, but have improved massively in recent years. They are now not only on a par performance wise with petrol alternatives, but also tend to be far more economical when it comes to fuel consumption.

For a closer examination let’s take a look at the Ford Focus. The latest 1.6 litre petrol version of the Ford Focus has an average fuel consumption figure of 40.6 miles per gallon (MPG). It would therefore cost the average driver completing 12,000 miles per year, approximately £1,827 ($3,013) annually to fuel the car if petrol prices remain at the current rates.

The Diesel version however has an average fuel consumption figure of 58.8 mpg, and would therefore cost the average driver an estimated £1,297 ($2,138) per year to fill up. This is a fuel saving of over £500 ($824) each year, despite the increased cost per litre of diesel over petrol. This along with the £50 ($82) per year road tax saving on the diesel over the petrol version more than negates the additional £500 ($824) required to buy a diesel over a petrol model if you are planning on owning the vehicle for 12 months or more.

 

Verdict: The easiest way to overcome rising running costs

 

Switch to hybrid cars

Another alternative to petrol motors is to purchase a hybrid. This is basically a car which has an electric motor which propels the car at low speeds until the battery runs out. At this time the petrol motor takes over, but the time during which the electric motor is running obviously reduces fuel consumption.

The most famous hybrid currently available is the Toyota Prius which has an average fuel consumption figure of 65.7mpg; an impressive achievement considered that it has a petrol engine and is the size of a normal family hatchback. The average driver doing 12,000 miles per year would therefore spend approximately £1,129 ($1,862) per year to fuel the vehicle.

 

This is £700 ($1,153) cheaper per year than the petrol Focus, and it is also exempt from road tax thanks to its low C02 emissions, which equates to another £160 ($264) saving. However, it is still over £5,000 ($8,238) more expensive to buy from new than a petrol Focus model, and would therefore take over six years to recover the additional costs required to purchase the Prius over the Focus before you’re started to experience cost savings if fuel rates remained at the current rate.

Verdict: Substantial running cost savings possible; but converting to hybrids not viable in light of the initial cost of buying such models. The Prius is nothing more than a marketing gimmick.

 

Switch to electric cars

Nissan has become the first car manufacturer to release a mass produced fully electric vehicle with the introduction of the Nissan Leaf. It is capable of completing 100 miles between charges and has a top speed of 92 mph.

 

Like the Prius, the Leaf is exempt from road tax and it is estimated that it would only cost £300 ($494) per year to charge up the Leaf for a motorist who is completing 12,000 miles annually. This is a remarkable saving of £1,500 ($2,472) per year over the petrol Focus every single year on fuel alone.

However the Leaf costs £25,990 ($42,825) to buy from new, which is over £10,000 ($16,448) more than a brand new Ford Focus. It would therefore take over six years to recover this additional expenditure before cost savings began to be experienced, which is exactly the same figure as with the Prius. The only difference between these two models is that the Leaf is far more impractical, with a lack of recharging outlets and time required to fully charge the batteries making long journeys nigh impossible.

Verdict: Cheaper to run, but much more expensive to buy and very impractical. The world simply isn’t ready for electric cars yet.

 

Switch to mopeds

Many of the 5% of motorists who gave up their cars altogether seem to have converted to other forms of transport, with this coinciding with a surge in popularity of mopeds and scooters.

This is a result of them being far cheaper to buy and run than cars, with many high quality scooters available to purchase from new for just £500 ($824). On top of this, 50cc scooters such as the Honda Dio are capable of 144mpg which would cost the average motorists just £515 ($849) per year to fuel. This is on top of massive moped insurance savings possible, with moped insurance potentially being up to 75% cheaper than car insurance for young motorists.

Taking this into account the average driver would save approximately £2,900 ($4,780) every single year compared to the how much they would be spending on the running costs of a petrol Ford Focus model. However, there is an inherent danger which comes hand in hand with motorcycle usage. It is likely that this will act as a deterrent to many road users.

Verdict: Much cheaper to buy and run, but also much more dangerous.

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