In the UK we're now paying around £1-34 for Petrol and £1-39 for Diesl per litre which makes our fuel very expensive. Somewhere around 80% of that cost is in direct taxation in the form of Fuel Duty and VAT (Sales Tax).

Given the almost complete pay freeze in certain industries for the last 4 years it's starting to hurt. I'm in te IT industry and like most of my team and colleagues have seen no increase in the last 4 years. Comes of working for a US Company unfortunatly. In terms of fuel prices and options, unfortunately there really is no alternative as our Public Transport is inefficient, poorly run, very expensive, crowded, old, dirty and often runs at inconvenient times unless you are in a big city or close to a major commuter route.

Electric cars don't really work in rural areas, hydrogen is non-existent, LPG is rare now and hybrid cars too damned expensive and their emissions levels are not told honestly by the manufacturers so seem no more than a toy for he image conscious. I do drive less than I used to, and work from home most days now. Yes I know I have an X6, but at least it is the more efficient Diesel version - petrol ones are way too expensive to run in the UK these days unless you have money to burn


For now, we're stuck in the Age of Oil, and it's high time we got out of it by spending vast sums of money developing new technology to replace petrol/diesel engines instead of sinking more oil wells into more and more risky places. You can safely say that most Brits were horrified at BP's mega screw up in the Gulf last year, even more so if it was down to penny pinching managers!!

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Me:
Current: 2011 E71 40D Vermilion Red/Beige Nappa

Wifey:
Current: 2012 R80 Countryman SDX Green/Cream