The worth of diesel in Perth will attain a brand new record excessive for the fifth day in a row on Sunday, averaging a staggering 217.2c a litre throughout the town.
As the value of unleaded begins to creep downwards after additionally hitting record highs this week, the price of filling up with diesel continues to soar.
At Coles Express in Canning Vale tomorrow, diesel will attain the eye-watering worth of 231.9 c per litre — virtually a greenback larger than the typical worth for a litre of diesel in March final yr.
The common worth of unleaded petrol topped $2.12 per litre this week, with diesel not far behind at $2.06, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despatched world oil markets right into a frenzy.
Brent crude reached a close to record excessive US$130 per barrel earlier this week earlier than moderating to $US110 – though that also stays effectively above the previous decade common of round US$83.
And the continued battle in Ukraine, and long-term influence of bans on Russian oil and gasoline exports by the US and the UK, are actually sparking warnings petrol may common effectively above $2.20 per litre for months.
Those skyrocketing costs are prompting a rising variety of West Australians to ditch the combustion engine in favour of electrical bikes, scooters and automobiles.
E-Go Electric Bikes proprietor Neville Tierney mentioned enterprise — already booming within the midst of the pandemic — had jumped an additional 25 per cent for the reason that begin of the yr as petrol costs have marched upwards.
“In the past couple of weeks especially we’ve seen more and more people worried about petrol and trying to stick within the family budget,” Mr Tierney mentioned.
“Some have been looking at parking or selling one of the family cars because the used car market is quite buoyant and there is in an opportunity to cash-in.”
Commuter e-bikes — which retail for between $1700 and $2500 — boast ranges of up to 80km and have grow to be more and more fashionable for metropolis staff particularly.
Veteran automotive salesman John Hughes mentioned though electrical automobiles weren’t “flying off the shelves” there had “absolutely” been a rise in inquiries in latest months.
“There is no doubt that (the cost of petrol) will create a lot more interest in electric and also to a lesser degree hybrid vehicles,” Mr Hughes mentioned.
“Have I noticed a significant increase yet? No, but I believe we will.
“And if this petrol price continues to rise we certainly will. I think it will develop and grow over the next few weeks.
“I also think there’ll be a lot of people trading in six-cylinder vehicles or bigger vehicles for four-cylinder vehicles — there’ll be a trend to that as well.
“(Electric cars) are still relatively expensive and they’re hard to get like everything else today — you can’t buy a new car anywhere without a minimum four to six-month timeframe for it to arrive.”
Mr Tierney mentioned the lengthy wait for new automobiles to arrive was one other issue that had prompted a giant variety of West Australians to examine e-bikes as another.