There was some good news for Irish motorists today when the AA announced that in its regular sweep of average pump prices for petrol and diesel in Ireland, the cost has fallen to its lowest level since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
€1.59 for a litre of petrol
The average petrol price across the state is €1.59, the lowest since September 2021. Diesel fuel has dropped significantly, with the average at €1.51, nine per cent less than last month.
"We have not seen prices this low for petrol and diesel since September 2021, well before the start of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which led to a dramatic increase in fuel prices internationally," said AA Ireland's Head of Communications, Paddy Comyn.
That's the good news. As ever, though, bad news inevitably follows good. The prices at the pumps will start to go back up in pretty short order because the Irish Government is going to re-raise the cost of duty on fuel, which it cut as the higher prices triggered by the war against Ukraine bit last year.
Fuel duty going back up
The cost of duty on fuel will be raised in a series of steps, starting on June 1st, which will see a rise of 6c per litre on petrol and 5c per litre on diesel. On the 1st of September, these rates will increase by 7 cents for petrol and 5 cents for diesel. The Government will fully restore the rates on the 31st of October with a final increase of 8 cents for petrol and 6 cents for diesel.
"Motorists won't be able to enjoy these prices for too long, however. We already know that unless prices fall again, then petrol will be back up to around €1.80 per litre and diesel to €1.76 per litre by the end of October. Which were the same as at the start of the Ukraine conflict," adds Comyn.
Those who've switched to electric power in search of savings might be feeling hard done by - the cost of electricity has barely budged in the past month, meaning that the average EV driver is paying €1,131.04 to charge their car over the year, down slightly from €1,138.13 in the previous month.
EV charging costs
That cost is very variable, though. According to the AA's figures, if you take the maximum possible benefit of charging at home at a cheap overnight rate, you could slash that electric car charging bill to just €421.43 to cover the same 17,000km distance.
However, if you rely on public fast chargers, you could pay up to €2,150.27 per year to keep an EV on the road.
There is hope for cheaper charging - the wholesale cost of natural gas, which is widely used for electricity generation, is falling fast, so we should start to see reductions in the cost of electricity as suppliers get into their next purchasing rounds. However, continued volatility in global markets and more long-term hedging means these prices may take some time to pass on.