Fuel prices are at all-time highs, and could keep rising, so anything that’ll make a difference is more than welcome
In the past week alone petrol prices have gone up an average of 1.4p while diesel has risen 1.9p a litre. Over the past year it’s far more – with petrol up 40.1p and diesel up 56.6p.
That left the average price for a litre of petrol standing at a 4-year high of 174.88p a litre and diesel at an all-time high of 199.52p. The only time petrol has ever cost more to fill up was the summer of 2022, when the pound crashed, inflation was over 9%, Boris Johnson resigned and the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was still fresh.
In response to this surge, last week the Government announced petrol station prices would be appearing on Google Maps.
As with other rises in the cost of living, managing fuel price increases can feel out of your control. But there are ways to help you save at the pump and to drive more efficiently.
Here are some of the best ways to get cheaper fuel and get it to take you that extra mile.
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Find the cheapest petrol near you
As a general rule, supermarkets tend to have the lowest prices, but these can vary massively from town to town, something that could be worth looking into if you’re travelling further afield anyway.
You can now see petrol and diesel prices at stations when looking on Google Maps. A quick search showed a 6p a litre difference between petrol prices at a local Shell (£1.80 a litre) and Texaco (£1.74 a litre) station near me.
And when searching for a petrol station, don’t forget to look at both sides of the road. Petrol stations on opposite sides of the same road can sometimes have massive differences in price per litre — but remember that they’re competing, so the best-priced station will switch all the time.
There are also a couple of websites that compare the prices of petrol based on whatever postcode you enter. These can be handy if you know in advance you need to fill up, but they’re less useful if you’re driving!
Fuel Finder
This website is Government-backed, and petrol stations are legally required to report fuel prices to it within 30 minutes of a price change at the pump, as of February 2, 2026.
Google Maps
This now takes on data from the Government fuel-finder service, to show prices at the pump, as of October 8, 2026.
RAC App
You don’t need to be a member of the RAC to access the petrol price feature on its app – though you will need to set up an account.
You’ll be able to see prices within two, five and 10 miles of any postcode.
You can also see trends, average prices and predictions on the RAC website.
PetrolPrices.com
You have to register to use this. By default, you’ll see results within five miles of the postcode you enter, but you can expand this as far as 20 miles. You can search on your desktop or any browser, but there’s also an app you can download to your phone.
You can see the last date each pump price was updated.
Waze
Waze is a navigation app that finds the quickest routes using data from other users. It also has a feature which shows petrol prices at your local petrol stations — some of these are crowdsourced, but it’s also updated by fuel retailers. We’ve noticed that the supermarkets seem to be updated directly by the retailer. You can see when the price was last updated and who by directly from the app.
Waze is free to download and is available for Apple and Android users.
Confused.com
This is a free service which covers 83% of petrol stations across the UK. You can expand your search to a 25-mile radius. You get 20 searches per week but have to log-in to Confused.com to see the full results.
Work out if it’s worth going out of your way to fill up
The flip side of locating cheaper petrol stations is that they could be some distance away. This means using more petrol to get there and back.
Most of the time it’s hardly worthwhile if it comes to saving a few pence per litre, but if you’re on a motorway where prices are through the roof, there’s more likely to be a larger price difference that could save you a lot.
Ideally, you should choose which station you visit as part of a planned journey, using the tools listed above.
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Save money by using less fuel
You might think you can’t change the efficiency of your car, but there are small things you can do to get you an extra few miles on a full tank of fuel. With most of these, it’s about reducing aerodynamic drag.
Make your car lighter and more aerodynamic
The heavier your car, the more petrol you’ll use. So get rid of anything in the boot that you don’t need, and take off things like roof racks if you’re not using them as they make your car less aerodynamic.
Don’t always fill up
Also, it can make sense to only half-fill your tank at the petrol station, as that extra weight makes a difference. Or put enough in so you can get to a location where you know pumps will be cheaper.
Though of course, if you’re going on a long motorway journey or going out into the sticks, both places where prices are much higher, it could be worth topping up. It also means you won’t run out if you can’t find a petrol station.
Switch off the aircon
The air conditioning can make driving a lot more pleasant on hotter days, but your car can use a lot of fuel pumping out that lovely, cool air.
But of course, an open window can create drag, which means you need to use more fuel, so you’ve got to balance it out. Halfords reckons you ought to keep the window open until you’re going 50mph — over this and you should shut the windows and turn on the aircon.
Change how you drive
You might not realise that the way you drive can change your fuel consumption. This includes how you brake and accelerate. If your car shows your fuel consumption as you drive, you can be surprised at the difference this can make. Check out this article from the RAC with some suggestions.
Get points and cashback
There’s little point using a petrol station just because it offers points back, but if you are at a garage offering them then it makes sense to claim them.
The supermarkets have their own schemes. Esso uses Nectar, while BP has its own scheme, BPme.
If you already have a physical BPme card but don’t have a digital version yet, you can register for one online or through the BPme app and receive 500 points (worth £2.50) once you’re successfully signed up.
BPMe also offers reward prices exclusively for members (it works in a similar way to Nectar Prices and Clubcard Prices). So you can also save on selected M&S food, Wild Bean Cafe goods and retail store favourites.
It helps to download the apps so you’ve got them on your phone if you happen to visit one of their stations.
When you pay, use a cashback debit or credit card to earn a little back (at most 1%) on your spending.
