Want to spend less at the pump? Start with how you drive
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Petrol prices have surged in the wake of conflict in the Middle East, smashing the $3 threshold and hitting Kiwis in their back pockets.
That’s an increase of 45 to 50 cents per litre, adding about $23 to the cost of filling an average car, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said at a media briefing on Monday.
Diesel prices have also risen, about 72 cents a litre, adding about $36 to the cost of filling an average diesel vehicle.
Have you changed your driving habits since fuel prices surged? Email: shilpy.arora@stuff.co.nz
Willis said the Government was “acutely conscious of the impact this will be having” on many households.
She was asked whether she would advise people to “ease back on the accelerator” or consider working from home.
“People will make their own choices,” she replied. “People’s circumstances vary considerably.”
She added: “I think most Kiwis understand if you’ve got less stuff in the back of your car, you don’t need much petrol. If you don’t drive as fast, you don’t need as much petrol. If you want you can carpool with a neighbour.”
So with Willis tabling money-saving hacks, Stuff decided to get the experts’ tips.
1. Shop around for a deal
The AA’s principal policy adviser Terry Collins said his top tip was to shop around for the best deal.
“Number one, buy as cheap as you can. The fuel is all the same.”
Use the Gaspy app, shop around, and find the cheapest petrol you can.
2. Drive sensibly
Number two, Collins said, was to drive sensibly.
“What you often see in urban areas is drivers accelerate sharply away from the green light, only to be braking at the red light. Don't do that.
“Just anticipate traffic. Look ahead, see what's going to change and drive smoothly - you will save 15% of your fuel just by doing that.”
Kate Harvey from Consumer echoed this. She said keeping to an average speed helped to save fuel.
“If you're driving at the speed limit or just below it, you'll be using less gas than if you're speeding up all the time.”
3. Don’t speed
Collins’ third tip was not to speed on the open road. He explained that the difference between 100kph and 110kph was 15% more petrol.
“So not only is [sticking to the limit] saving you money, it's making you safer.”
4. Check tyres
Checking your tyre pressure and making sure your car was regularly serviced was also important.
Harvey explained that when your tyres are a bit flat, you have more rolling resistance, so the car had to work harder.
5. Empty your boot
And finally, Collins said, weight did matter.
“Every time you put extra weight into a vehicle, you're paying to carry that around.”
If your golf clubs are sitting in the back of the trunk for Saturday, Collins said, take them out.
Harvey said she’d just checked her own boot and found her son’s bike and scooter and some beach chairs.
“They'll be creating lag and making your car have to use more petrol to get it to the same distance.”
Mythbusting
Something that doesn’t make much difference, Collins said, was air conditioning.
“In most late model cars, no, it doesn’t make a significant difference.”
If you need to use the demister to unfog the windows, or the air conditioning because its too hot, “use the blimming thing, it’s there for a reason”, Collins said.
“Generally, the air conditioning in the older days would have [made a difference]. But a lot of them now are very sophisticated systems and they don’t add to the load.
“Not like the tyres and driving sensibly, those are the ones that really do make a difference.”
Harvey said using air conditioning was actually more fuel-efficient than having the windows open.
“If you've got the windows down on a hot day, it's just going to add more wind resistance. So if you roll up the windows and turn on the air con instead, you're making your car kind of more slippery.”