After a week in which a report claimed you might struggle to fill up a diesel car in London by the end of the decade, I can categorically say that the death of diesel has been greatly exaggerated.
Let’s start with the sales figures for 2025. Diesel was the least popular fuel type, with 103,906 diesel cars registered last year – down 16.6 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, fully electric car sales rose 23.9 per cent to 473,348, and plug-in hybrid sales jumped 34.7 per cent to 225,143.
That’s still a significant number of diesel cars being added to an already sizeable fleet – and they’re likely to remain on the roads for some time.
However, the shift away from diesel isn’t simply about access to fuel. Have you seen how much diesel costs these days? I spotted £1.67 per litre on the motorway yesterday, although the UK-wide average is currently £1.41.
Beyond fuel prices, there are environmental, running-cost, and reliability considerations with diesel that you don’t face with electric cars.
The key advantage diesel has traditionally held is range – sometimes over 600 miles from a single tank (though few of us would dare attempt a 600-mile drive in one go). The problem is, as my recent European trip showed, plug-in hybrid models can now match that.
Our round-up of the best plug-in hybrids includes models like the Volkswagen Golf eHybrid, which claims a total range of 620 miles using its petrol engine and battery power. Options stretch from the compact BYD Atto 2 DMi to the large Range Rover Sport P460e.
Unsurprisingly, it’s the latest “new energy vehicles” – as the Chinese call them – such as the Atto 2 and Chery Tiggo 8, that are tempting drivers away from diesel. One of the newest, another BYD, the Seal 6 DMi, even claims up to 935 miles on a single tank and full charge.
It’s no surprise that plug-in hybrids are proving so popular, and we’re seeing a significant jump in PHEV sales. But the range of fully electric cars is growing all the time. BMW’s new iX3 claims 500 miles on a single charge, while the new Mercedes CLA offers 484 miles of range.
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Having experienced some of the UK’s fast chargers this weekend, I added over 100 miles of range to my Hyundai Ioniq 9 in the time it took me to walk to Starbucks, grab a drink and a bacon roll, and wander back to my car. Long-distance travel in an EV is no longer something to fear.
As fast chargers continue to pop up across the UK, dedicated charging hubs are becoming more common, too. In London, a few fuel stations have even removed their pumps entirely and replaced them with EV chargers.
That said, existing diesel cars – and those that will inevitably be bought while manufacturers are still selling them – aren’t about to vanish in a puff of smoke. It’s just that the alternatives are becoming increasingly compelling – and that trend shows no sign of slowing.
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The article above is an excerpt from The Independent’s DriveSmart newsletter.
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