Shell has just launched two new fuels that that promise to save motorists up to 1 litre per 50 litre fill up (the fuel tank on a typical family car holds around 50 litres).

The two new fuels have been in development for five years and are called FuelSave Unleaded and FuelSave Diesel. They will replace Shell’s regular unleaded and diesel fuels at all Shell filling stations in the UK will cost the same as the old fuels.

Can It Be True?

I won’t blind you with science, but Shell says that both the new fuels have special, completely new ingredients that help petrol and diesel engines work more efficiently, therefore reducing fuel consumption. Such claims are notoriously hard to prove, as so many other factors – like the type of car, the roads and the driver – can affect fuel consumption. (If you are interested in the technical details, click here)

Shell understands that people will be sceptical and has had a lot of independent testing carried out on the new fuels, using the same test cycles that are used to calculate fuel consumption figures for new cars. It says that the test results validated its claims of saving up to a litre per tank and that it’s also carried out more than 5,000 miles of real-world tests on public roads, in which “fuel economy savings were achieved in most cases” – with some vehicles even managing to save more than one litre per tank.

Win A Year’s Supply Of Fuel

To celebrate the launch of the new fuels, Shell has teamed up with Ashes cricketer and FuelSave Ambassador Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff to give you the chance to win a year’s supply of fuel while learning some fuel efficient driving techniques that will cut your car’s fuel consumption.

It turns out that Freddie Flintoff isn’t just a great cricketer – he’s a pretty keen driver, too. He’s hoping to get more than 100,000 people to sign up to his fuel-saving challenge and be in with a chance of winning a year’s supply of fuel. Freddie says:

I had no idea that by making a few simple changes to my driving habits, I could be so much more fuel efficient.

Freddie is living proof that his driving tips work – while learning about fuel saving he drove round a test track to see how far he could drive on one litre of FuelSave Unleaded. On his first attempt he managed just 4 miles – but by the end of the training he could manage 13 miles on one litre – a big difference.

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff honing his fuel-saving driving techniques on the track

Although you won’t be able to manage such a big improvement on public roads, a few small changes to your driving technique will make a big difference when it comes to fuel consumption.

Freddie’s tips make an ideal starting point if you want to become more fuel efficient – to find out more and be in with a chance of winning a year’s supply of fuel, visit www.shell.co.uk/freddieschallenge.

Technique Is Important

It’s important to remember that fuel-efficient driving techniques like mine and Freddie’s will do more to improve your fuel consumption than any fuel you can buy.

My personal best is a reduction of 10% in my car’s fuel consumption, which I achieved simply by following my own advice and using my right foot much more lightly, looking further ahead and keeping my speed down slightly on motorways. It can be done and it’s surprisingly easy, so why not give it a try?

To learn more about using good driving techniques to save fuel, have a look at these tips:

• Our own Simple Guide to fuel-efficient driving techniques
• Freddie Flintoff’s FuelSave Challenge tips (including a chance to win a year’s supply of petrol or diesel

I’m going to give the FuelSave Challenge a try, but in the meantime, I’m planning on carrying out my own FuelSave testing to see if I can reduce my fuel consumption with FuelSave Diesel – I’ll publish my results here when I get them.