![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.autotrade.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/unnamed-1-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDeclining fuel efficiency has increased motorists’ exposure to global conflict, new analysis from Vehicle Data Global (VDG) in the UK has revealed.<\/p>\n
Fuel economy already worsened over the past decade, with cars across the UK (and most likely Ireland) now thirstier than ever before, but the Ukraine war and then the Iran conflict starkly revealed the cost of motorists’ preference for ever bigger cars.<\/p>\n
Data technology specialists VDG reports that average petrol car fuel efficiency in the UK peaked at 55 mpg in 2016, then fell back to 47 mpg today, caused by cars becoming bigger and heavier. Average petrol MPG is now roughly where it was in 2006.<\/p>\n
The picture is said to be worse for diesel car efficiency, which also peaked in 2016 at 64 mpg, but is now just over 43 mpg. This is even worse than 2006’s 47 mpg.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A taste for SUV and crossover cars, which is commonplace also in Ireland, is said by VDG to be largely to blame for the reduction in fuel economy, as there has been a sizeable\u00a0increase in average car weight.<\/p>\n
But despite increases in comfort and safety, two wars in four years have exposed motorists to major fuel price surges, as Britain saw the biggest fuel cost spike on record when the Iran conflict began.<\/p>\n
VDG’s analysis suggests that in financial terms the taste for bigger cars means a typical private driver covering the current average 7,100 miles pays \u00a3142 per year more for fuel and a diesel owner has to find \u00a3407 more than if cars had remained at 2016 peak fuel efficiency.<\/p>\n
For major car fleets operating on a three-year and 60,000 mile cycle the additional average annual cost is \u00a3447 per petrol car and \u00a31,188 for a diesel, attributable to reduced fuel efficiency.<\/p>\n
Across the entire cycle that\u2019s an additional \u00a31,341 for petrol and \u00a33,564 for diesel.<\/p>\n
Van fleets on the same cycle now face total increased fuel expenditure of \u00a37,180, with \u00a32,888 of that caused by decreased fuel efficiency.<\/p>\n
Diesel drivers have faced a double whammy over the same period due to a particularly stark decline in fuel efficiency.<\/p>\n
Efficiency peaked for diesels in 2016, at an average 64 mpg, but has declined to below 44 mpg today, while diesel pump prices increased over the period by around 70 per cent.<\/p>\n
Ben Hermer, operations director of VDG, said: “Our analysis shows that spikes in fuel prices are only part of the story about increased costs for motorists.<\/p>\n
“Increasing average car size and weight have taken a toll on fuel efficiency and exposed us all the more to sudden shocks to energy markets, such as the Ukraine and Iran conflicts.<\/p>\n
“Our data highlights that the benefits of comfort, safety and prestige that an SUV-style car brings also comes at a significantly increased daily cost.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Declining fuel efficiency has increased motorists’ exposure to global conflict, new analysis from Vehicle Data Global (VDG) in the UK has revealed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":79720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","cat-1-id","has_thumb"],"yoast_head":"\n