Its been a tough year for many people in the UK so higher fuel prices are just the icing on the cake for many struggling with the economic downturn. We are being warned to expect a 15p a litre increase in fuel prices that will push up pump prices to record highs. 

It will see the cost of a litre of unleaded soar from 108p to over 123p. This is helped by the increase in VAT back to 17.5%, duty duty increases and the withdrawal of biofuel incentives.

The chairman of the  Petrol Retailers' Association - Brian Madderson  said: 'The Government is desperate for  cash.  And motorists are an easy tax target. It will mean motorists paying record levels  for their fuel.

December 2009 arrived with a shiver today as temperatures across Britain plummeted to -9 following clear skies overnight with snow due to fall on exposed higher ground in Scotland later today. Another front coming in from the Atlantic is expected to dump yet more rain on the UK.

Its a double blow for motorists who leave their cars running on frosty mornings to warm up the engine and clear the windscreen could face being fined up to £40 under anti-pollution rules quietly brought in by the government in 2002. The ruling is particularly aimed at drivers of buses and taxis who sometimes leave engines running for half-an-hour or more while waiting for passengers, pumping out pollution unnecessarily.

For more information on winter driving and our experiences with Hypermiling over the winter months check out our Hypermiling Forum. Also check out our Winter Hypermiling Tips on our Techniques pages

UK Motorists face rising fuel prices to record levels as they fill up their cars in the run up to Christmas, an RAC report warns. Petrol prices are expected to reach 110p per litre by the middle of next month – the equivalent of £5 a gallon. These latest price rises are blamed on worldwide oil costs and the falling value of the pound. The price hike means an increase of more than 26 per cent on last year when unleaded fuel cost 87p a litre.

The price warning comes after oil giant BP revealed bumper quarterly profits of more than £3billion - a 60 per cent rise on the £1.9billion profits it made between April and June. The last time petrol was so high the cost of crude oil was around $100 a barrel.Yet the price of crude has remained between $75 and $80 a barrel over the last month.

Lord Mandelson announced today that the UK scrappage scheme, will be extended to include an additional 100,000 vehicles. New car buyers are still being offered £2,000 off although the age limit has been dropped to vehicles at aged eight years and older (the previous limit had been 10 years).

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the voice of the UK's auto industry, said the extension "will help to stimulate demand, giving more consumers access to it, and create a bridge to a period when economic growth is strengthened and more sustainable."

Due to the strong financial incentives offered by the Cash-For-Clunkers program in the United States, the average MPG of new vehicles sold in the US during August reached a record high of 23 MPG, up 8 percent from the 21.2 MPG in August of last year.

The US Average gas mileage is set to continue it’s rise as automakers are force to improve efficiency to meet new US fuel economy standards of 42 MPG by 2016. However many are predicting that efficiency nosedive now that Cash-For-Clunkers program will no longer be offering up to $4,500 to trade up to a new, more efficient vehicles.

A Tesco petrol station in Milton, Cambridgeshire was swamped with motorists after a malfunctioning pump began selling petrol for less than half price for nearly a week. Despite queues to purchase the 40p-a-litre fuel causing massive jams with traffic stretching around a nearby roundabout, staff remained clueless for six days. The cut price fuel meant a 60-litre tank of fuel costing £64.20 was selling for just £24. A Tesco spokesman confirmed there had been a problem and said an engineer had been called to fix the pump. He said: ‘Although we always aim to keep prices down at the pumps, unfortunately we could not maintain this price indefinitely.’

Audi is hitting the road for the third time in about a year for an efficiency marathon. This time around, the German automaker is taking 20 of its vehicles on a north-south trek across Europe from Lofoten archipelago in northern Norway to Bée in Italy. The fleet includes Audi's all new "Eco range" from the newly-introduced A3 1.6 TDI with 99 g/km CO2 emissions (free UK road tax) to the monster Q7 V12 TDI. Audi isn't just using diesels like they did on last year's Mileage Marathon across America. The vehicles will be driven by 200 journalists and consumers to see how efficiently they perform. The efficiency marathon starts today in Norway and ends Sept. 30 after 2,485 miles. We will post the results as soon as we have them.

Frankfurt 2009 has been awash with manufactures tripping over themselves to offer an EV to the masses. Many have concentrated on showing improving technologies to offer triple figure MPG ratings but Audi has done what Audi do best and set a new benchmark for "Performance" EVs. With 4 batteries (two per axle) and a53kWh electric motor this R8 based concept offers a fairly tame-sounding 313 hp but an insane 3,319 lb-ft of torque. That’s enjoy to carry the E-tron to 60 from a standing start in 4.1 seconds, not bad when you consider Audi claim a range of 154 miles on the EU combined driving cycle. The Telsa should be scared!

 The Frankfurt  Motor Show marked the debut of Volkswagen'a revolutionary L1 Concept. The L1 is a diesel-electric hybrid vehicle constructed from aluminium and carbon fibre weighing just 380 kg. The most amazing statistic is that ist capable of returning 189 mpg on the combined cycle while emitting just 39 g/km of CO2 (free road tax in the UK).  This amazing return is provided by a 10kW electric motor powerplant and a 0.8-liter TDI - giving the L1 a top speed is 100 mph.

The L1 seat's two occupants in tandem. They enter through a side-hinging, electrically operated canopy to maximise the aerodynamic efficiency of the L1 Concept. The result is a remarkable co-efficient of drag figure of just 0.195. The L1 is not extremely aerodynamic but also very light and strong. The car's safety cell is constructed from carbon fibre reinforced plastic weighing just 124 kg.

VW will continue to release further details on the L1 Concept and claim it will be produced by 2010. Personally, I can't wait! 

Motorist organisations and hauliers last night attacked the Governments introduction of a 2p rise in fuel duty. The lastest rise will be seen from today at the pumps, where the average price of a litre of unleaded will be £1.05. This is the third rise since December 2008. In the budget speech Darling said the measures were essential as part of package of tax increases "to secure Britain's economic future".  

The supermarket Morrisons said it was temporarily freezing the price of fuel - absorbing the effect of the rise in duty that other retailers are passing on to their customers. Sainsbury's, Asda and Tesco refused to follow suit - claiming the move was a stunt.

Wholesale oil prices have continued to climb, rising to $70 a barrel last week, prices at the pumps have risen at a faster rate. When VAT reverts back to 17.5 per cent, it is looking more and more likely that petrol prices will head towards last summer's record highs. The RAC estimates the average price for a litre of unleaded is now 103.9p, but in many areas drivers are paying more.

In Clarksons latest rant in the Times Online, he sets his sights on the new 64.2mpg Honda Insight. For those who are fans of Honda' flag ship Hybrid it doesnt bode well. Mr Clarkson reports "It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more."

In hard times for all car manufactures quotes like this will not be sitting well when coming from a highly respected motoring journalist. I just wonder if the new Prius will get such a warm welcome from Jezza.

When the UK government decided to introduce the "Cash for Clunkers program" it was aimed at not only kick starting plummeting new car sales but also to help us into todays new eco friendly and "green" offerings from manufactures. According to Autotrader, two of the first new vehicles purchased under the UK's new scrapping scheme were Nissan GT-Rs. Not quite the eco-friendly car of choice. Most other countries have written in legislation to ensure the program ensures people are opting for a more fuel efficent model rather than help funding a £50,000 pound supercar!