How to reduce your car's running costs

Driving style

Harsh acceleration and heavy braking burn noticeably more fuel than smooth, anticipatory driving — reading the road ahead and easing off early rather than braking late is consistently one of the largest free changes available. Keeping speeds down on motorways matters too: aerodynamic drag rises sharply with speed, so dropping from 80mph to 70mph on a motorway trip can improve fuel economy by somewhere in the region of 10-15% on that stretch.

Tyres and basic maintenance

Under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance and directly increase fuel consumption, and they wear out faster too — checking pressures monthly against the figure in your door sill or handbook costs nothing and takes two minutes. Removing a roof box or roof bars when not in use, and clearing unnecessary weight out of the boot, both reduce drag and load respectively. Keeping up with basic servicing (air filter, oil, spark plugs where applicable) also keeps an engine running at its intended efficiency rather than gradually drifting worse.

Route and journey planning

Combining several short errands into one trip avoids repeatedly running a cold engine, which is markedly less efficient than one that's warmed up — short stop-start trips are one of the worst-case scenarios for real-world fuel economy versus the official figure. A sensible sat-nav route that avoids unnecessary idling in traffic, where practical, also helps, as does simply walking or cycling the genuinely short journeys instead.

Insurance and tax

Insurance is frequently the single most negotiable running cost. Shopping around at renewal rather than auto-renewing, considering a slightly higher voluntary excess, and checking whether a black box/telematics policy suits your driving pattern can all meaningfully reduce the annual premium — use the Cost Per Mile Calculator to see how much a lower quote actually moves your per-mile figure. Vehicle tax (VED) is fixed by the car's emissions/registration date rather than negotiable, but it's worth knowing which band your car sits in before you buy your next one, since it can differ by hundreds of pounds a year between models.

Would switching to electric actually help?

For a lot of UK drivers with off-street parking who can charge at home overnight on a cheap tariff, yes — often substantially, especially at higher annual mileages. For drivers without off-street parking who'd rely mostly on public charging, the running-cost saving shrinks a lot and can occasionally disappear altogether, since public charging (especially rapid charging) prices per kWh can rival or exceed petrol on a cost-per-mile basis. Use the EV vs Petrol Calculator with your actual likely electricity price to get a real answer rather than a general one.

Putting a number on it

General advice is useful, but a number specific to your car and your driving is more useful. Run your own figures through the calculators below to see which of the above would actually move the needle for you: