With petrol now more expensive per litre than Evian mineral water in many service stations, motorists are looking for instant fixes to their rising fuel bills. However, even the most ambitious manufacturers doubt they will have hydrogen cars in the showrooms before 2007 and there is nowhere to fill them up. The fuel cell is even further away and probably won’t be more than a sci-fi fantasy on production cars before 2020. So what is the solution? The most straightforward route is to choose a diesel engine. Diesel sales have soared in recent months. They are up by 5.2% so far this year compared with 2004 and have a market share of 35% of all new car sales, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Alternatively, Toyota and Honda offer hybrid petrol-electric models, which use less fuel than some conventional engines.

Other car makers look set to follow suit. Mercedes last week unveiled concept hybrid versions — one petrol, one diesel — of its forthcoming S-class saloons that could make their way into showrooms by 2007 and reduce fuel consumption by between 20% and 25%.

To really cut fuel bills, though, you could try going entirely electric, provided you don’t mind also cutting your top speed to about 40mph. The Reva G-Wiz (see opposite), manufactured in India and distributed by Goingreen (www.goingreen.co.uk), is the only mass-produced and affordable electric car — although Citroën has an electric version of its Berlingo van — currently on sale in the UK.

When fully charged (which takes six hours when plugged into the mains) the G-Wiz can travel for up to 40 miles, depending on the temperature and driving conditions. With electricity costing around £1-£1.50 per charge, this works out at less than 4p per mile, compared with about 11p per mile for a basic-model petrol Ford Mondeo or 27p for a Ferrari 430, based on petrol prices at £4 per gallon.

Goingreen has seen interest grow since it started selling the G-Wiz in May 2004 and sales now total 250, with another 50 vehicles on order. Each one costs less than £8,000 and can certainly claim to be the most economical car on British roads, especially in London, where it is exempt from the £8 congestion charge and parking is free in some boroughs, including the City of Westminster. Goingreen estimates the car could save a commuter who has to drive into London every day £6,000 a year.

For those who still want power and performance, not to mention electric windows (the G-Wiz has old-fashioned sliding ones), comfortable rear seats and the ability to travel more than a few miles without having to look for a handy roadside electrical socket, converting your car to run on liquid petroleum gas (LPG) could be a less drastic option.

The government has now abandoned the PowerShift grant scheme, which offered motorists money towards the conversion, and companies usually charge between £1,000 and £2,000 for the adaptation, depending on make and model. But LPG prices are less than half those of petrol at around 40p per litre, thanks largely to the 5p per litre fuel duty (compared to about 47p for petrol).

An estimated 125,000 British cars now run on LPG, which cuts carbon dioxide emissions by between 15% and 20% compared with petrol, and availability is no longer a big drawback: 1,300 stations sell it — about 13% of the total number — and most areas are covered. A list of the UK’s LPG fuel stations and conversions specialists is available on www.boostlpg.co.uk.

LPG is also available widely on the Continent, particularly in Italy, Holland, France and Germany, although finding LPG pumps in Spain can be a problem. It is also against the law for train operators to carry LPG cars through the Channel tunnel, but the situation is under review. On the plus side many LPG cars are exempt from the London congestion charge (information is available from the Energy Saving Trust, www.est.org.uk).

If you’d prefer to escape dependence on disappearing fossil fuels altogether (the electricity driving the G-Wiz comes from power stations burning fossil fuels, after all) you can join the growing ranks of people running their diesel cars on biodiesel made from crops such as oilseed rape and sunflower seeds. While biodiesel is currently sold as a 5% blend with conventional diesel at an increasing number of fuel stations in Britain, some motorists are making their own 100% biodiesel or buying it from independent manufacturers to run their diesel cars, with few problems being reported.

Green Fuels, a biodiesel technology specialist, has been selling DIY biodiesel production kits from its base near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, for about 18 months. “Sales have gone ballistic in the past few weeks,” says James Hygate, managing director. “This is a perfectly legal fuel. It’s available at 2,000 petrol stations in Germany and I’ve been running my Audi A6 on it for over a year.”

Continued on page two...()Prices start from £4,106 for a kit that can produce biodisel in 150-litre batches using a process that involves mixing heated vegetable oil with other chemicals and filtering off the end product. The cost is about 55p per litre, including duty of 27p per litre (those producing their own fuel need to register with Customs and Excise and pay tax on what they make).

The only technical risk could be to your car warranty because many manufacturers are unwilling to sanction biodiesel in their engines. Some converts argue that pure vegetable oil can work just as well, although for long-term use this requires an extra tank, as conventional diesel is still needed to start the engine and run it until it’s warm. Even fewer car makers, if any, are happy to endorse this alternative.

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