• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

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How far would you travel iconic car journeys on global petrol rates?

Fuel For Thought

-Warranty Direct uses latest data to illustrate how far you’d get travelling iconic car journeys on different global petrol rates- 

Warranty Direct used the latest data from GlobalPetrolPrices to compare different global fuel costs and calculate how far you would travel on a series of iconic car journeys around the world on twenty pounds’ worth of petrol.

As announced earlier in July, these are the top five most expensive and cheapest petrol rates around the world:

Bottom 5 least expensive countries Cost per litre ($) Top 5 most expensive countries Cost per litre ($)
Venezuela 0.01 Hong Kong 2.20
Iran 0.29 Norway 2.08
Sudan 0.34 Iceland 1.98
Kuwait 0.35 Netherlands 1.95
Algeria 0.35 Greece 1.94

While not in the top five most expensive countries, it’s still bad news for the UK. Our rates came in the bottom 15% of the study (129th) with petrol costing $1.71 per litre.

As a result, drivers taking on one of the country’s most famous routes – Land’s End to John o’ Groats – using UK fuel rates, wouldn’t even make it a fifth of the journey (16%) on a £20 tank of fuel. The total cost of the journey would cost £122 to complete.

US and UK global petrol rates rankings, compared with the rest of the world:

Global Ranking Country Cost per litre ($)
36 United States 0.85
129 United Kingdom 1.71

Comparatively, US drivers taking the route from Cornwall to Scotland could complete the journey on just £61 worth of fuel, if using the US fuel rate ($0.85 per litre).

The USA performed well in the study, with petrol prices appearing in the top quarter cheapest in the world (36th). US drivers pay less than a quarter of the fuel tax their UK counterparts pay, meaning they benefit from much lower prices.

US drivers could even drive the famous US Route 50 (3,017 miles) on just £205 worth of fuel. To put this into perspective, driving the same route on UK petrol prices would cost more than double (£422).

Hong Kong posts the highest global fuel prices, with a litre of petrol costing $2.20, which is over 200 times as much as it costs in Venezuela (the cheapest country). This means a driver from Hong Kong would need to spend £157 to make the 874-mile journey from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

European countries dominate the top 5 most expensive petrol prices, with Norway, Iceland the Netherlands and Greece taking spots 2-5 respectively.

Norway posts the second most expensive fuel prices in the world – $2.08 per litre – with high tax levies to blame for Europe’s extreme petrol prices. In fact, £20 would only enable Norwegian drivers to complete 13% of the Land’s End to John o’ Groats route.

Native drivers taking on an equivalent iconic route in Norway – Trondheim to Sandefjord – would also only make it 39% of the distance on £20 of fuel.

Venezuela keeps fuel prices drastically low due to government regulation, meaning prices haven’t changed since 1997.

Such low rates could see you complete the Land’s End to John o’ Groats journey on just 72p and the longest drivable distance on Earth (from Sagres, Portugal to Khasan, Russia) on just £10 worth of fuel, and still have over a quarter of a tank left.

The contrast between the cheapest and most expensive countries is further emphasised when you consider a trip to the moon. On £1,000 worth of fuel, a driver from Hong Kong would only make it 2% of the way to the moon, whereas a Venezuelan driver would make 511% of the journey.

Warranty Direct also completed an analysis of several other well-known routes including; the Karakoram Highway, the longest drivable distance on Earth and Argentina’s Ruta.

See how other countries compared here

Simon Ackers, CEO at Warranty Direct commented on the findings:

“The results of our latest data analysis are really interesting and the driving routes help to visualise the size of the gap in fuel prices across the world. Although most people wouldn’t drive these journeys in one go, they go to show how much the price gap can add up”.