Twice as much diesel fuel consumed in 2016 than petrol

Drivers using diesel consumed twice as much fuel than those with petrol vehicles in 2016, new figures have shown.

Published in its annual Transport Statistics report, the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed that 24.6m tonnes of diesel were used in road vehicles last year, compared with 12.1m of petrol fuel.

The report also shows that diesel use was still on the rise too, with four per cent more diesel was consumed last year than in 2015, when the total reached 23.7m tonnes.

The news follows an announcement by chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond in his Autumn 2017 Budget speech that diesel cars not complying with new real-world driving emission (RDE) regulations — affecting vehicles that emit more than 80g/km of nitrogen oxide — would see higher taxation.

Hammond said: “From April 2018, the first-year VED rate for diesel cars that don’t meet the latest standards will go up by one band and the existing diesel supplement on company car tax will increase by one percentage point.”

“Drivers buying a new car will be able to avoid this charge as soon as manufacturers bring forward the next-generation cleaner diesels that we all want to see.”

Many manufacturers, such as Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Vauxhall and VW Group brands, have already introduced scrappage incentive schemes over the course of 2017 to encourage motorists to trade in old, high-emitting diesel cars towards new and ‘cleaner’ vehicles.

This was in response to the Government’s announcement that new diesel and petrol vehicles would no longer allowed to be sold in the UK from 2040. Already in 2017, the SMMT has reported a 14.9 per cent decline in diesel regulations.