how to reduce the bill in the face of soaring prices at the pump?

How to limit breakage when refueling your car? The question is increasingly essential, as fuel prices jumped 21% over one year in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté according to INSEE. Concretely, at the start of 2022, unleaded 98 reached 1.82 euros/l, according to the latest official score from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, diesel is at 1.68 euros/litre on average and unleaded lead is displayed at 95-E10 at 1.73 euro/litre. Driving advice, tips and carpooling: France Bleu Auxerre helps you retain some purchasing power in the face of rising fuel prices.

Adapt your driving: eco-driving

The classic advice is toMaintain your vehicle properly and regularly. Check the tire pressure carefully.under-inflation can increase fuel consumption by 15-20%“, explains Christophe Madé, manager of the Gambetta driving school in Joigny. And the heavier the car, the more it consumes. You must therefore remove the roof bars or the roof box after use during the holidays. A car loaded with a hundred kilos consumes on average 5% more than in normal times.

Another tip: adopt eco-driving, in other words, drive smoothly and avoid untimely acceleration. “In town, we use the start and stop as much as possible [ndlr : système qui coupe le moteur automatiquement  à chaque arrêt non définitif] or if it’s an old vehicle, we cut the ignition ourselves every time we’re stopped for 10 or 15 seconds“, says Christophe Madé. Thanks to this system, it is therefore possible to reduce fuel consumption avoiding running the engine in a vacuum, at red lights for example.

“Above all, the most important point in eco-driving is to anticipate all your actions and use the brake pedal as little as possible.“, underlines the manager of the driving school of Joigny. It is therefore necessary to anticipate slowdowns and adopt a constant pace: “Nervous driving consumes almost 50% more than economical driving”. Using the engine brake to slow down is also a formidable means, the car then consuming no fuel.

Finally, according to Christophe Madé, don’t be afraid to shift gears too early. “You can very well drive at 50 km/h in town in 4th gear, that’s no problem

Amortize your journeys: carpooling

And why not start carpooling? Sharing your daily trips between home and your workplace with others is a good way to save fuel. The app BlaBlaCar Daily promotes carpooling on daily journeys. Its managing director, Adrien Tahon, confirms the boom in home-to-work carpooling since the price spike at the pump : “In Bourgogne-Franche-Comté between September 2021 and February 2022, we have +60% of journeys made on the application. With the explosion in fuel prices, people discovered home-to-work carpooling, it was a trigger”. And according to the boss of Blablacar Daily, on average, over a month, taking a passenger almost every day on a typical route of 25-30 km, savings can range from 60 to 100 euros. “There, we hardly change our habits, we just take a passenger on his journey, and in the end we save one or two fill-ups of gas per month, which is more than 1,000 euros per year.“, comments Adrien Tahon.

Where to find the lowest prices in Yonne?

INSEE has listed 613 service stations in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Unsurprisingly, thehe most expensive pumps are on the highway. It is necessary to count on average an increase of 11% on the motorways compared to the other stations located in town or in the countryside.

The prices of diesel and Unleaded 95 are generally a little weaker in town than elsewhere, notably 1 to 2% cheaper than in rural areas. This represents a difference of 4 to 6 euro cents per litre. In urban areas, service stations are relatively close to each other, which places them in direct competition. Thereby, “they can charge lower prices because they take advantage of larger volumes sold“, emphasizes INSEE.

Another lesson from this study is thatRates are lower in Auxerrois than in the area of ​​Sénonais or southern Yonne. For example, the Avallon area is one of the most expensive regionally for diesel (between €1.42 and €1.44 per liter between January 1 and October 12, 2021), while prices in the ‘Auxerrois are lower (between €1.40 and €1.41 per litre).