Most expensive Aussie cities to fill up: Named
The cheapest and most expensive Australian cities for filling up have been revealed, with Melbourne taking out the dubious honour.
In the Victorian capital, drivers are looking at an average unleaded price of $1.270 per litre or $101.60 to fill an 80L tank.
That’s followed by Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Hobart, where drivers are looking at $99.04 - $101.09 to fill up.
At the other end of the spectrum, Queensland’s Bundaberg has the cheapest unleaded fuel at $1.107 per litre, or $88.56 for a tank, the Budgetdirect.com analysis reveals.
Where does your city sit?
However, the ranking changes slightly when it comes to diesel, with Hobart and Launceston drivers paying $1.35 and $1.308 per litre respectively, or $108.00 and $104.67 per tank.
Bundaberg was again the cheapest, although it shared the title with Adelaide. Drivers in both cities pay an average $1.15 per litre or $92 per tank.
“Petrol prices across the world plummeted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic earlier in the year, although seem to be slowly creeping back up towards pre-lockdown levels again,” Budget Direct said.
“But fuel prices can vary wildly across the country, with the prices at the pumps being determined by a variety of factors, including levels of competition in different areas and individual pricing decisions taken by wholesalers and retailers.”
How to save on petrol
There are a few ways to save cash on petrol.
One of the easiest is to simply empty your car: HelloCars co-founder Paul Higgins ran the numbers and found that for every extra 22 kilograms of weight, your vehicle loses up to 1 per cent in fuel efficiency. That means dumping the shoes, extra blankets and gear could save you more than $30 per year.
Similarly, you can reduce your fuel consumption by as much as 25 per cent when you take 20 kilometres per hour off your speed, with speeding, hard braking and rapid acceleration all adding up.
However, you can maintain high speeds by altering your technique. That means avoiding over-revving or stamping on the brakes before accelerating, as well as making sure your tyres are always pumped. Doing this could save you some $805 a year.
And when it comes to fueling up, it pays to know your way around the petrol price cycle. This is the cycle tracking when fuel will be most- and least-affordable in your city. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission regularly updates this.
Another option is to make the most of technology: the Refueler and 7-11 apps allow drivers to pre-purchase fuel when prices are low and then pump it in when they need it, as long as its within 10 or seven days respectively.
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