February saw the average price of a litre of unleaded come down another penny (1.26p) to 147.72p, while diesel dropped 3.19p to 167.19p. The falls make the cost of filling a 55-litre family petrol car £81.25 (down £0.69 from £81.94 a month earlier), and the diesel equivalent £91.95 (down from £93.71 at the start of February).
While the reduction in diesel prices is good news, wholesale price data analysed by the RAC shows drivers of the UK’s 12m diesel cars continue to pay a needlessly high price every time they fill up. Despite there being just a 6p difference between the wholesale prices of both diesel and petrol throughout all of February, diesel pump prices are currently a colossal 20p more than petrol. This means anyone filling a diesel car is, the RAC calculates, paying around £7 more per tank than they should be if diesel was being sold at a fairer price of around 155p a litre.
