If those who drive the furthest ditched fossil fuels, the UK could save all of the oil (around 13.6 million tonnes) expected to be extracted from the North Sea by the 2040s, according to a new report from New AutoMotive.

According to the Switch First, Save Fast report the top quarter of high mileage UK drivers produce more than half of the country’s car emissions and could dramatically speed up reaching net-zero by going electric.

Even if only the top 10 per cent of high milage drivers were to switch to an EV, they could save annually all the oil that the UK expects to extract from new licences.

In 2019, the last year for which comprehensive data is available, petrol and diesel cars consumed 26.6 million tonnes of oil, corresponding to an annual pump value of more than £40bn, more than £28bn of which was wasted as heat.

In contrast, switching to more efficient, greener and cheaper electrified travel would cut those costs by more than 80 per cent.

Ben Nelmes, CEO of New AutoMotive, said: “High mileage cars are the low hanging fruit of the UK’s transition to net-zero. The cars that pollute the most are those that spend the most time on the road, and they need to be switched for electric cars if we want to see quick results of the EV transition. These drivers are bearing the brunt of fluctuating fuel prices and they produce the most emissions.”

The report was published in collaboration with a study by US environmental group Coltura, who discovered similar trends for US drivers. Here, the driving patterns are even more concentrated, with the top 10 per cent of drivers responsible for 35 per cent of vehicle emissions.

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