Despite the global market turmoil weakening the rand this week, Pretoria motorists can breathe a sigh of relief.
The simultaneous drop in global oil prices is leading to a significant over-recovery in local fuel prices.
This trend is setting South Africa up for petrol and diesel price cuts next month.
Here are the potential fuel price cuts for September:
- Petrol 93: decrease of 86 cents per litre
- Petrol 95: decrease of 81 cents per litre
- Illuminating paraffin:decrease of 101 cents per litre
- Diesel 0.05% (wholesale): decrease of 84 cents per litre
- Diesel 0.005% (wholesale): decrease of 98 cents per litre
This comes after a petrol and diesel price cut last week, with prices coming down by 15 cents and 17-28 cents per litre, respectively.
Also read: Here is the official fuel price for August
Here are five ways to ensure that you save fuel:
- Keep tires pumped up: Tires that are underinflated have a higher rolling resistance on the road. This means that with every kilometer traveled, your tires generate more friction and rolling resistance, and hence, will increase fuel consumption.
- Drive with AC: Driving with the windows down at speeds faster than 80km/h causes a lot of wind resistance and costs you a lot more fuel. Contrary to what you may think, in this situation, it’s simply more fuel-efficient to drive with the aircon on.
- Don’t go too fast or too slow: When cruising down a highway, your engine works hard to overcome wind resistance. You’ll burn up to 15% more fuel at 100 km/h and 25% more at 110 km/h. That might tempt you to drive slow, but if you drive slower than 50 km/h, your engine would drop to a lower gear, thus using up more fuel. In conclusion, a steady 50 – 90 km/h on the highway is best to achieve optimal fuel economy.
- Plan your rush hour route: Stop-start traffic puts a lot of pressure on your engine, thus burning more fuel. When possible, plan your commute to and from work carefully to help you avoid the worst of peak traffic.
- Don’t stay idle for long: If you are waiting for something or someone for more than three minutes, turn off your engine. You may not be moving but as long as your engine is on, it’s burning precious fuel.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
