[Aditya]

At Rs. 100.19 per liter in Mumbai, the price of petrol is the highest among all the metro cities in the country. This figure can have a psychological effect on a person. Over the past few months, I am sure many people would have drawn a line and decided to reduce their driving if the price of petrol crossed Rs. 100 per liter.



I remember a similar situation back in the 90s, when I was a student. The price of petrol crossed Rs. 20 per liter in Mumbai. Then, my parents decided to use our cars lesser, hoping that the prices will come down some day. But, that never happened.

With time, petrol has only become more expensive. The 90s ended with the price of petrol around the Rs. 30 mark in Mumbai and by the end of the next decade, it was past the Rs. 50 mark. Since 2010, the price of petrol has risen at a really fast rate. In February 2010, it was Rs. 51.68 per liter and since then, the price has almost doubled. In January this year, it had crossed Rs. 90 per liter and over this past weekend it crossed the Rs. 100 mark.



In May 2017, petrol was priced at Rs. 76.55 in Mumbai. Supposing a car returns 11 km/l, to cover a distance of 1,000 km, you would need ~90 liters of fuel, which would cost ~Rs. 6,900. Today, it will cost you more than Rs. 9,000 for the same. That translates to Rs. 9 per km vs Rs. 6.95 per km from 4 years ago.



What's worse, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has made things difficult for a lot of people. With lockdowns imposed in the country in 2020 and again in 2021, many people have have lost their sources of income. Businesses have wound up rendering many people jobless.

Fuel prices have a direct impact on the increasing cost of production in each economic sector. This makes all products and services more expensive. Transport costs increase and have a direct effect on essential commodities such as groceries, vegetables and other consumables. With finances already strained, most people will have to limit their expenditure. In such times, driving a car for anything more than what is absolutely necessary, seems like a luxury.

However, the situation is very tricky. Your vehicle is your personal space on the road. It allows you to maintain a distance between yourself and others, which is very essential to prevent transmission of Covid-19. It acts as a shield from the virus. I have been using my car to go anywhere and everywhere. I have been avoiding the use of any type of public transport since a long time now. That said, the situation is such that it has kept me home most of the time and driving has been limited anyway.

So, do sky high petrol prices make you drive lesser?

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[PrideRed]

I don't think I would drive lesser at these price but yes, increase is noticeable. Thanks to COVID however my driving has come down drastically. From 2K KM's a month to a few hundred KM's a month. The higher prices is not impacting for now but once lockdown is lifted and once COVID is over, fuel expense will shoot up.
I feel demand for diesel cars will rise as its not just about 6-7 rupee difference but Diesel cars deliver much better fuel economy. With Turbo petrols, capital cost of diesel and petrol is nil.

[Doge]

Not really but I do now drive in "eco mode" and just chill when I see a nice empty road. I don't feel people would give up on personal transportation during these pandemic times so easily. There is not much most people can do to reduce car usage anyway these days, most usage now is essential only.

What has certainly changed is it is now much more likely that the next runabout can be electric. I am sure I would just drive around for the heck of it a lot more if the car could be plugged into a wall during night.
Also during these lockdown times I do sometimes just go down and sit in my car, listen to music and stay out of the home for a while. If the car was electric I would do this pretty much everyday! There is just a sense of wasting when you burn gasoline, and it is a little morally taxing on me with the climate change, pollution in NCR etc.
Personally the guilt has increased more than the expenses.

[VKumar]

While one may make some cry, it is still not going to bother a majority of the personal car users. Because at the end of the day, it's still 2 or 3 rupees per kilometer more in terms of running cost.

Anyone who is driving 500 kms a month, will still drive that much only, no matter if the car is running at 7 rupees per kilometer or 9 rupees.

Secondly the people are not feeling the heat because the cars are simply parked in the covid curfew. I am still among the people with high running, but due to the Covid curfew, one full tank is lasting 15-20 days, and with empty roads, I am enjoying a lesser running cost than what it was 5 months back. But yes, once everyone hits the road, people will feel the heat. Car owners will face it less, Activa and Splendor drivers will face it more, because their running cost has gone up by a factor of over 50% in last 3 years.

While the direct effect won't be as much evident, it is the indirect effect which is going to make us feel the heat. Diesel drives the economy, and such high prices of diesel will result in a skyrocketing of freight charges, and that's gonna add a small fraction to the cost of everything we use today, individually everything will look normal; but the credit card bills will see a decent inflation for sure. Indirect effect will be further accentuated for the reason that it covers the majority section of our population; that is not owning the vehicles, and also is highly price sensitive too.

[Nav-i-gator]

Currently, what is bothering me is not being able to drive due to lockdowns. 5+ months of owning a new car and being able to drive only 1000 KM so far

Please let me drive! Let me bother about the fuel prices.

[Carpainter]

Well actually it will make people save lesser. Mainly because some people don't have the option to take public transport instead of his car to work for various reasons like unavailability, location and distance, time limitations etc. Some may switch to two wheeler from car but that's all. Also, Ola/Uber is not particularly cheap and not an ideal replacement to private cars.

As Vkumar said, increase in diesel cost will result in increase in monthly budget of a family even if it's not using any car at all. So by switching to public transport one wouldn't save much and for those who has to use their cars, only thing they will do less is savings.

[Emvi]

Fuel prices have never dictated my vehicle usage pattern till date. And the trend is likely to continue. The figure "100" certainly looks big when viewed in isolation, but the title of the thread says it all, it's more psychological than anything else, as far I am concerned.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Aditya

At Rs. 100.19 per liter in Mumbai, the price of petrol is the highest among all the metro cities in the country. This figure can have a psychological effect on a person. Over the past few months, I am sure many people would have drawn a line and decided to reduce their driving if the price of petrol crossed Rs. 100 per liter.
...

So, do sky high petrol prices make you drive lesser?

@Aditya,
You are asking the wrong question at the wrong time (Covid lockdowns itself a a huge factor to your question, irrespective of the price of petrol).

I would break-up the question into multiple points

Do sky high petrol prices
1. Make you opt for more fuel efficient options, even going down from cars to say two-wheelers?
2. Make you opt more for the public transport and private cabs for short in-city trips?
3. Make you opt for flights and trains instead of your own vehicle when considering long trips?
4. Make you delay the purchase of new vehicles and continue with your existing vehicle (and as a result reduce the cash outflow)?
5. Make you start actively considering EV options instead of ICE options in the near future?

For me
1. YES. (More of my Scooty and RE INT650)
2. YES. (Ola/Uber for all longer trips within the city)
3. YES. (So much that it's been over a year since I went on >100 km ride in a car. Note - I have done numerous >100 km trips on my bikes during this period)
4. YES. (very much yes. Car purchase put off by over an year and still delaying)
5. NO.

[Thermodynamics]

I expect some sort of redistribution in vehicle choices with FE getting prioritized. For example, I have replaced my car for daily commute to a Royal Enfield. It doubles up FE and fun.

Oil demand in India has dropped significantly due to Covid crisis (Link). However, the prices are going north. There's no correlation between demand and pricing when it comes to as basic a need as fuel.

[chinmaypillay]

My driving has actually increased since I mostly travel within 2 to 3 cities. The expense of this fuel price is really pinching, almost brings me to tears when refueling. What used to be full tank for a particular amount (3000 for example) now has gone up to 4 to 5k!!

Apart from this, the rise in expenditures like your daily groceries is simply crazy. Though I love to take my bikes out, hardly get to ride them so its by car most of the time. Family situation is such that I have to keep traveling frequently and has increased three fold during covid (30k kms within a year for example)

Reducing the driving is also of no help. With this covid and WFH you look out for saving whatever time you have, the tendency to take car out is higher. Covid also makes the situation where we have to take private transport for safety.

[ashis89]

Voted NO.

Thanks to Covid, daily use for my car is NIL. I predict it will remain so for foreseeable future. So my use of car will be pleasure trips or a necessity.

In case of former, fuel costs are a part of the overall trip costs. And for a tankful of fuel, it's the total bill that I look at, rather than the per litre cost. If the cost is unaffordable then the trip would be dropped altogether.

If it's the latter, it has to be done at any cost.

[m8002?]

I wouldnt mind this price for now, since the car is taken only for inter city drives. There is currently no option these days due to Covid.
But once the offices open ( hopefully end of year due to vaccinations ), then the aam junta will start to feel the pinch. I am guessing the govt. might then cut the prices a bit.

What I dont understand is how is the inflation numbers still less inspite of petrol/diesel going up by 30% in the last 1 year.

[Aniket Verma]

Voted NO.

My drives can be classified in two groups

1) Work related : Increased from 14 KM a day to 112 Km a day (as I had moved to my parents house in end March and now have to travel across NCR for work)

2) Leisure related : After hectic work weeks, I cherish long drives over weekends and cannot miss them (though have reduced after moving to NCR)

Only silver lining is that my drive is now much more sedate, due numerous Speed Cams scattered across NCR and my Ciaz now gives healthy millage of 22.XX km/l compared to 18.xx km/l in Bangalore.

[audioholic]

Since there is no third option, in my case, its cant say. While I absolutely hate the whole scenario of fuel prices being so high, whether it changes my driving habits or not is a different thing. If it were before 2019 when I would drive my car to work daily, 55kms a day burning around five liters of petrol a day, then it would surely affect me and I would have had to look at more economical means of commute. But after 2019 I had switched to public transport largely and come 2020, the fuel expenses were mainly for weekend and leisure use. In that scenario, it would not necessarily make me drive lesser, but I would crib every time I had to fill up my car, and perhaps no longer continue those guzzling habits like leaving engine ON with AC, driving pedal to the metal etc.

But right now I am out of country, and the highest fuel consumption is by my mom in her daily commute. And needless to say she is complaining but cant use public transport due to covid risk.