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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Petrol, diesel and electric vehicles – UK trends
30/3/2022
6 min read
The Energy Institute’s Knowledge Service (EIKS) team has gathered a wealth of UK vehicle fuel forecourt data and other information relevant to the fuel retailing sector, as part of the latest Retail Marketing Survey (RMS). Here, Gemma Fox reports on the trends and drivers.
Last year, 2021, saw the UK gradually emerge from lockdowns and the easing of both domestic and international travel restrictions that had been put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, the UK took presidency of COP26, with pledges and commitments made to shift away from fossil fuel usage to reduce global CO2 emissions and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Meanwhile, the beginning of 2022 has been defined by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The impacts of the pandemic, Russia’s invasion and the societal shift towards green energy can be seen in the latest data from the Energy Institute (EI)’s Retail Marketing Survey (RMS) which reflects soaring fuel prices as demand increased, but continued and accelerated growth in electric vehicle (EV) registration and infrastructure.
Fuel prices and sales
In 2021, UK fuel prices rapidly increased month-on-month, with the average monthly price of unleaded petrol rising from a low of 118 pence per litre (p/l) in January to a high of 147 p/l in November. The price of diesel followed the same trend, rising from a monthly average of 121 p/l in January to 150 p/l in November. The increase in fuel prices has continued into 2022 with petrol and diesel prices reaching record highs (as of 20 March the price of petrol and diesel had hit the all-time high of 167 p/l and 170 p/l, respectively).