• Are you ready to pay almost R20 per litre of fuel?
• AA predicts rapid rise of fuel cost to continue unabated.
• Petrol price has risen by 30 per cent in the past 11 months in SA.
• For motoring news, go to Wheels24

South Africans must brace for impact at the end of October as the country is set to experience record-breaking highs at fuel pumps when it comes time to fill up with petrol. According to the Automobile Association of South Africa (AASA), current data predicts fuel price hikes of catastrophic proportions at the end of October for November.

AA spokesmen say the current forecast shows petrol rising by 99 cents per litre. Diesel and illuminating paraffin will increase, too, by a whopping R1.42 per litre. This price hike will push 95 unleaded (ULP) inland above R19 a litre (close to R19.30/l in most instances). As diesel is unregulated, it’s expected to cost around R17 a litre at some forecourts.

Taking this potential increase into account, the price of a litre of fuel inland (95 ULP) will have increased from R14.86 per litre in January 2021 to R19.30/l in November 2021 – a 30 per cent increase over 11 months.

“The hikes in diesel and illuminating paraffin would be the largest in South African history, bearing in mind that this is only based on half a month’s data. R20 a litre for petrol is now a realistic scenario before the end of 2021,” says the AA, adding that it sees little hope of improvement before the end of October

How to stretch your tank a little bit further

While it’s particularly frustrating that the fuel cost is rising unabated, you can look to change your mobility habits and patterns to cut down on your fuel use per month. There are several ways for you to get to where you need to be on time without putting additional strain on your vehicle’s engine, resulting in more fuel use.

Here are three things to try to save on your monthly fuel bill:

1. Drive less

Seriously, we should all try to drive less if we want to reduce our fuel consumption and spend less on fuel every month. Since the lockdown began in 2020, numerous South Africans have been working remotely, which has already helped save on fuel bills for most households. It makes sense; if you drive less, you will use less fuel.

Think about how you can utilise online shopping outlets to do the grocery runs on your behalf or perhaps arrange carpools for shopping and leisure trips with family and friends instead of hitting the road alone or two-up in a vehicle. Of course, the ever-present danger of Covid-19 might prevent you from packing the family bus with people to ensure social distancing is maintained, but it does make more sense to pool your resources if you are looking to save on monthly fuel costs. You can even share the school runs, alternate with a friend or family to drop or fetch the kids from school or extracurricular activities; it’s up to you; do what you can to drive less to save money.

2. Stay relaxed

If you have to drive and do it daily, you should change up your departure times to go in less congested traffic. You can use apps such as Waze or Google Maps to plot your route to the office or gym or meeting to see that things are all clear, and if you spot any challenges along the road in your planning stage, you can easily choose to take another way, or you could perhaps telecommute to your task.

MasterDrive managing director, Eugene Herbert, advises all road users to plan their trips ahead of time, no matter how close or far from home you’ll be travelling. He explains that by planning, you’ll be more relaxed in the driver’s seat and that you’ll be able to focus on fuel-saving driving techniques instead of rushing to get to your destination on time. With more time on your hands and by being more relaxed, you’ll be able to shift through the vehicle’s gears earlier, and you’ll be less hasty with your throttle input when pulling away from stops. Staying relaxed will help you anticipate the traffic flow more effectively to ensure you aren’t braking and accelerating too much, which wastes fuel.

3. Change cars

If you’re driving a car that’s a known fuel guzzler, and you’re in a favourable financial position that allows you to change vehicles, now might be just the right time to get into something more economical. We’re not saying that everybody should immediately go out and buy econoboxes and A-segment cars, but we are saying that perhaps you can still have your cake and eat it too.

For example, if you’re driving a high-performance V8 sports car, and you are a genuine driving enthusiast who must bury the loud pedal at least a few times on your drive, you could trade your thunder mobile in for a four-cylinder sports car? Seriously, we love cars here at Wheels24, and the more cylinders, the better, we think, but the reality of times dictate that we have to be smart when it comes to spending money on mobility. If you can afford the fuel for your V8, you probably won’t be reading this, but if you’re a petrolhead that’s in turmoil, you have choices out there to move to more economical vehicles without sacrificing performance. It’s the same when it comes to SUVs. Why pay for a 4×4 drivetrain when you are only going to Mozambique once a year? Perhaps it’s time to look at a compact SUV, front-wheel drive, and with some eco-driving technology to help you save on mobility costs.

1. Fiat 500 Sport – It’s compact and cute and will use less than 5l/100km if you are gentle with it. The two-door layout and relatively small boot might not work for families, but if you’re a young exec who is currently driving a hot hatch, you could still get your thrills here and save tons of money at the same time when it comes to filling up with petrol.