8 Questions: the impact of falling pump prices

The RAC thinks fuel prices could soon drop as low as £1 a litre. This month’s 8 Questions looks at the impact of falling pump prices on transport habits. 540 readers responded

1. Do you think fuel prices will fall to £1 a litre before Christmas?

One year ago, the suggestion that petrol prices might fall to £1 per litre would have caused much merriment. But now it’s a distinct possibility. Engineers are sceptical though. Several readers stated that they simply did not believe fuel prices could go much lower. 

2. Would you be pleased to see fuel prices fall to £1 a litre?

Should falling pump prices be a cause for celebration? The vast majority of readers think it should. Wages have not kept pace with inflation in recent years, said many respondents, so a rebalance of money coming in compared to money going out was to be welcomed, they said.

 3. Have falling pump prices encouraged you to drive more regularly?

When fuel prices are high, people tend to use their car as little as they can to save money. But when pump prices are low, they don’t tend to drive around with uninhibited enthusiasm. Why? Well, there was no longer any pleasure in driving due to traffic jams, said many of the write-in replies, so it was to be avoided at all costs.

4. Are you worried that falling fuel prices could hit the take-up of electric cars?

One corollary of lower fuel prices could be the prolonged existence of the petrol or diesel-powered fleet, at the expense of more environmentally-friendly electric vehicles. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, said most readers. Electric cars needed to improve in terms of range and available infrastructure before they could be considered.

5. Are you worried that lower fuel prices will result in rising harmful emissions?

The subtext to the strong No vote here was that, until non-fossil fuel electricity generation was available, there was no real clean alternative to petrol or diesel cars. So many engineers said that they weren’t prepared to lose sleep over their own emissions output.

6. Have you ever considered buying an LPG or natural gas car?

Lots of readers said that LPG or natural gas cars represented a reliable technological alternative. However, many readers added that they thought it would be a hassle to be constantly worrying about the availability of fuel. For that reason, the No vote was high.

 7. Will hydrogen-fuelled cars ever become a common sight on UK roads?

The saying goes that hydrogen cars are an amazing technology that will always be 20 years away. Scepticism about readiness fed into one-third of readers refusing to believe that hydrogen cars would ever become a common sight. But a similar amount said Yes, too, which indicated a lot of goodwill towards hydrogen.

8. Would you like to see the government significantly increase the road-building budget?

Another split vote here. Lots of the No voters said that the problem with building more roads was that it would just encourage more cars. But the Yes responders said that, with rail prices high, there was no real alternative way of getting about over distance.