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Diesel hits 174.0p as pump prices climb againPetrol 156.1p, diesel 174.0p - plus 13 more stories on cost, compliance and residuals. · 15 stories · 04 Aug 2026 | |||||||||||||
THRIVE is independent fleet intelligence, direct to your inbox. Each Tuesday we read the UK fleet market at the source and send you the developments that actually change a fleet decision - every claim linked to where it came from. A short read. | |||||||||||||
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Diesel jumped 6.9p in a week to 174.0p a litre, with petrol up 3.8p to 156.1p, according to the latest DESNZ weekly road fuel price data. That lands straight on total cost of ownership for van and HGV fleets still running compression-ignition vehicles, and it moves faster than most quarterly budget reviews can catch. Advisory Fuel Rates are set periodically against average pump prices, so a sustained run at these levels builds pressure for the next revision - and until it lands, drivers on the current AFR are either subsidising the business or pocketing a shortfall. Some context on scale: today's diesel price sits nearly 37p above its 2018 high of 137.08p, with petrol's 2018 high at 130.98p, though both remain below the July 2022 peaks of 191.55p petrol and 199.22p diesel, per DESNZ. The same series shows how quickly prices can swing the other way, too - petrol fell from 119.64p to 112.45p in a single week at the end of March 2020, with diesel down from 123.41p to 118.60p over that week, before both bottomed out in May 2020 and clawed back through June and July, per DESNZ figures. Weekly moves of several pence a litre are routine in this data - any fleet running static per-mile assumptions is working off a stale number within a month. THRIVE's UK fuel price data tracks the underlying weekly pump-price movements. Run the numbers now rather than waiting for the next scheduled review: reprice fuel budgets against 174.0p diesel and 156.1p petrol, and flag the gap to whatever AFR your business is currently paying against. (Source: DESNZ Weekly Road Fuel Prices) | |||||||||||||
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Ofgem keeps temporary unidentified gas allowance for October price cap | |||||||||||||
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Ofgem has confirmed it will roll forward a temporary approach to the unidentified gas (UIG) allowance for the October to December 2026 price cap period, rather than land a permanent fix in time. The cap is a household tariff cap: business energy contracts sit outside it, and it does not set the price of CNG or LNG vehicle fuel. Ofgem | |||||||||||||
Ofgem proposes £850m more for early grid equipment orders | |||||||||||||
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Ofgem has issued draft determinations proposing to raise Advanced Procurement Mechanism bespoke procurement allowances by about £850m across all three electricity transmission licensees, and to add a new cost category for modular substations at 33kV, 132kV and 275kV. For fleets banking on rapid grid connections for depot charging, this is the kind of unglamorous regulatory plumbing that decides how fast the network can actually deliver capacity. | |||||||||||||
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Tachograph breaches cut operator's HGV licence from 12 vehicles to six | |||||||||||||
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A Shropshire tyre recycler has had its HGV licence cut from 12 vehicles to six, indefinitely, after a public inquiry exposed months of tachograph failures. Deputy Traffic Commissioner Dr Paul Stookes ordered the curtailment following the hearing on 24 June 2026, and the message to every O-licence holder is blunt: card discipline isn't optional paperwork, it's the licence itself. (Traffic Commissioners for GB) | |||||||||||||
Kona Electric jumps to full £3,750 grant after supply chain review | |||||||||||||
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Hyundai's Kona Electric has moved up to the full £3,750 Electric Car Grant, having previously qualified only for the £1,500 Band 2 rate - a jump worth an extra £2,250 off the list price for anyone speccing one now, according to Hyundai. That takes the entry price from £35,000 down to £31,250 before any finance offers. | |||||||||||||
Salary sacrifice provider loveelectric maps Chinese EV warranties | |||||||||||||
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A new guide from salary sacrifice provider loveelectric maps warranty, servicing and reliability across Chinese EV brands. For anyone specifying BYD, Omoda, Changan, Leapmotor or Geely-owned models, the practical questions - who fixes it, how fast, and what happens to residuals if the importer changes strategy - now have a reference point worth checking before signing. | |||||||||||||
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MAN's MCS eTrucks reach series production, with GB among first delivery markets | |||||||||||||
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MAN has started series production of MCS-ready electric trucks at its Munich plant, and Great Britain is on the first delivery list alongside Germany, the Netherlands and six other European markets, according to MAN Truck & Bus. For UK long-haul operators still nervous about depot dwell time, that's the headline: this is no longer a demo vehicle. | |||||||||||||
Continental expands European Roadshow across Europe through 2027 | |||||||||||||
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Continental is expanding its European Roadshow into a long-term customer engagement platform touring Europe through 2027, after initial stops in the Czech Republic and Denmark, with Norway and Finland next. The Roadshow centres on its Generation 5 commercial vehicle tyres, the Conti Hybrid HT 5 and Conti Eco HT 5 trailer tyres, an early look at the upcoming Conti Efficient Pro HT 5 and its ContiConnect tyre monitoring. The release gives no pricing or UK dates, and says further tour dates will be announced during the rollout (Continental). | |||||||||||||
MG's B-segment EV hatchback due in 2027 | |||||||||||||
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Two concept cars at Goodwood is the sort of thing worth a glance rather than a diary entry, but one of them has a fleet-relevant date attached. MG's B-segment electric hatchback, previewed by the MG GO! concept, is pencilled in for launch in 2027 - a genuine order-book signal for anyone planning small-EV replacement cycles that far out. | |||||||||||||
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1,300 charge points funded across Devon and Torbay | |||||||||||||
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Believ is rolling out more than 1,300 fully funded EV charge points across Devon and Torbay, working with the two councils under the government's LEVI scheme. For operators running vans or pool cars out of the South West, that is a meaningful expansion of local public charging capacity. | |||||||||||||
Energy Saving Trust: tariff matters as much as home energy kit | |||||||||||||
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Energy Saving Trust's latest number-crunching is aimed at homeowners, not depots, but the underlying lesson travels: tariff structure can matter as much as the kit itself. That's worth flagging for any fleet weighing solar, battery storage or on-site generation alongside depot chargepoints, where the temptation is to fixate on hardware specs and treat the electricity contract as an afterthought. | |||||||||||||
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Stellantis exits Free2move car-sharing to Mutares | |||||||||||||
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Stellantis is offloading Free2move's car-sharing arm to private equity firm Mutares, under an agreement announced on 28 July 2026 that sees Stellantis exit its entire shareholding in the business (Stellantis). The car-sharing operation runs free-floating fleets bookable via app across 14 cities in Europe and the US. | |||||||||||||
BetterPoints wins $500k to scale behaviour-change tech | |||||||||||||
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A Surrey-based outfit has just picked up a rather larger prize than the average UK tech award: Toyota GB confirms BetterPoints is a winner in the Toyota Mobility Foundation's Global Sustainable Cities Challenge, alongside Barcelona's Factual Consulting and OpenMove. It is a niche story, but it points at where behaviour-change tech is heading, and fleets running mixed-mode or last-mile operations should be watching. | |||||||||||||
New Members – June | |||||||||||||
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SMMT's June intake runs to 12 new members, spanning legal advisory, supply chain and manufacturing tech. SMMT confirms the additions in a member list dated 7 July 2026. | |||||||||||||
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cap hpi's new-LCV residual forecasts run to 200,000 miles | |||||||||||||
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200,000 miles - that's the top end of the mileage range in cap hpi's residual forecasts for new light commercial vehicles, alongside valuations in both pounds and percentage of list price for terms of twelve to sixty months. For fleets running vans hard on last-mile and multi-drop work, that's a forecasting ceiling that reaches properly into high-mileage disposal territory. (cap hpi) | |||||||||||||
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