The price of basic unleaded petrol in Australia is currently as much as $1.50 per litre. Understanding the price, and how it is made up, is actually simpler than many regulators would have you believe.

There’s a lot of speculation about the price of petrol, but the breakdown is broadly this (assuming the price is $1.50 per litre) for every one litre of petrol sold:

38.14 cents is Federal fuel excise – a fancy name for

CO2 & Your Car

French cities seem on the verge of banning SUVs to improve pollution. But is banning 4WDs really such a hot strategy to reduce CO2 in the world’s big cities? Where do passenger vehicles really fit in when it comes to greenhouse?

The big French cities say they’re in the process of banning gas-guzzling vehicles – including 4WDs – in an attempt to curb emissions.

The exact scheme to be put in place – exactly which vehicles, in exactly which neighbourhoods, and exactly what penalties could be enacted – are at this stage still unstated. But the intent to proceed with the project has been

fuelJohn Cadogan27 January 2011co2, carbon dioxide, greenhouse, car, trqnsport, environment, alternative fuelComment

Ethanol as an Alternative Fuel

GM Holden’s release of the so-called ‘flex-fuel’ Commodore a couple of months back might be one of the crucial first steps in positive change for the future of automotive fuel in Australia. The flex-fuel Commodore can run on petrol – but it can also happily consume petrol-ethanol blends up to E85 (that’s 85 per cent ethanol in 15 per cent petrol). E85 is a big step up from E10, which is quickly becoming the default automotive fuel. And that means we’re looking down the barrel of becoming an increasingly ethanol-fuelled nation.

There’s been a lot of controversy about ethanol but the fact is ethanol blends in petrol are here to stay. Here in Australia, regular unleaded petrol is being phased out, to be replaced by E10 – a blend of 10 per cent ethanol in petrol.

Most cars can

fuelJohn Cadogan10 January 2011ethanol, alternative fuel, energy independence, greenhouse, environment, car, transport, energy securityComment

How to Cut Car Running Costs

PLAN YOUR TRIPS

You know the saying ‘time is money’? With cars it’s not time, but distance, that costs you money. And that means you save 100 per cent of the fuel you would have used on trips you don’t make. You also save 100 per cent of the tyre wear, brake wear and other service-related costs.

Most Australians never really consider this – so the car gets used as a yo-yo between home and the next pressing assignment. Instead of going home-school-home-coffee-home-shops-home-school, why not try home-school-coffee-shops-home? You’ll save a significant amount of distance – which means money.

It’s more efficient to get as many things done as possible in the one outing than it is to achieve the same result via a greater number of shorter trips. Same thing applies for businesses.

What to do at the scene of a car crash

These recommendations came to light after an interview with 33-year veteran Victorian paramedic Jim Wilkins, conducted by John Cadogan during a car industry event.

In order:

Protect the scene. This means ensuring there is a safe zone in which to support the injured, protected from the path of passing traffic. Ideally a vehicle would be placed 50m back from the crash, with the ‘hazard’ lights activated. Additionally, safety triangles (or witches hats) may be set up even further back, and a sensible bystander (preferably wearing and/or waving a hi-viz vest) could be employed to warn approaching traffic, provided they can do it from a safe location. (Everyone should have at least one reflective hi-viz vest and two safety triangles in the car. A torch, especially a head torch, which leaves both hands free and directs light wherever you move your head, and a first-aid kit aren’t a bad idea, either.)

You must ensure that