With the advent of quieter, more drivable and quicker diesels, petrol is now the second choice. With the obvious exception of petrol hybrid cars, fleets have shunned petrol powered cars completely. This may be changing, with smaller turbo petrol engines that are nearly efficient as a diesel. Now then, nearly as efficient? Well the new Ford three cylinder is just that in the case of the Focus and Fiesta, and with petrol being cheaper than diesel, the running costs are almost identical
If you include P11D and Co2 emissions in the calculations, petrol begins to pull ahead. With car tax being lower for the efficient petrol, small petrol engines really are going to eat into the diesel market. But its more complex than simple numbers, petrol servicing intervals are longer, they warm up faster and are generally a little quieter
So, what cars are include?
VW have for a long time produced their FSi engines, smaller, very efficient petrols that will this time next year have technology that shuts off cylinders in certain circumstances
The 1.2 litre version is used in the Skoda Yeti and our customers tell us that it is cheap to run
Ford have the 1.0 Ecoboost engine, the engine of the year for two years running. In 100bhp and 125bhp form, it’s a gem of an engine and we have one on our fleet. Ford have already started to run 1.2 versions of the engine in the 4×4 Kuga, with great results
What about vans?
Ford are already using the Ecoboost engine in the Fiesta van and with the gap between diesel and petrol costs widening, the Fiesta van will undoubtedly get market share. What is really exciting is the larger version of this engine being used in the Transit Custom
