My relatively new car developed bad noises so it needed to go in for repair. I was lent a replacement similar vehicle that was automatic, whilst mine has a 6 speed manual box.
The replacement was a bit newer and only had 7000 miles on the clock. I asked to be shown how the auto gears worked. The handover man said the vehicle had just under half a tank of fuel so would go about 185 miles on that. I was amazed. My similar car does 375 miles on half a tank, or more if I am lucky in avoiding congestion and lots of road closures and red lights. Could being automatic make that much difference?
The car’s history programme for fuel use said the car had only managed a little under 35 mpg over its life, compared to my vehicle’s 55. When I started driving the auto I saw the problems. The Car needed more revs to get moving. The first two gear changes produced noise and lurch. You needed to use the brakes more as it is difficult to use anticipation and the engine in a lower gear to slow the machine.
The gear choice by the vehicle misses out on driver anticipation. The car changed up to a higher gear just as you needed to decelerate to allow traffic to clear ahead. It did not see the need to stay in a lower gear when the road starts to climb.
It looked as if the automatic could do a lot better than 35 mpg. I soon got it up to a little over 50 mpg. It must just have been a succession of fuel hungry drivers. It looks as if the lack of control over gears will hit fuel economy by a few percent, not by the 35% that the clocked comparison showed.
Such a pity in automatic mode it kept you in the dark about which gear it was in, and did not want your advice based on road conditions. Trying to drive it on clutchless paddle shift did not work either as the car kept changing gears when it wanted.
June 16, 2026
I drive the same route daily. It’s hilly, so I watch the mpg go up and down as I go up and downhill. There’s very little traffic. The driving speed on the flatter sections is what makes the biggest difference to journey mpg on my manual diesel car. At 35-45mph I’m crawling but getting 50-60mpg; at 50-60mph I’m moving along but only getting 35-45mpg. If I’m feeling poor I drive slowly.
I’d hate an automatic. I already resent electric windows, auto boot opening, tyre sensors and all the other expensive-when-fails unnecessary bloat they stick into cars these days. If I had the money I’d buy a really old car that didn’t have all this junk in it. I can wind down my own window and check my tyre pressure myself thank you very much.
June 16, 2026
By their very nature Automatic cars be they Torque Converter or DVT drive can be very thirsty.
Unlike direct drive geared cars you are essentially driving another engine to gain traction. This means to get any decent performance you have to rev harder.
Hybrid autos are very different in as much as the generator is directly coupled and the battery drive is very efficient.
I’m almost 81 and live my 6 geared car which returns around 47mpg on average including a lot of motorway driving
I find Automatics take the fun out of driving and I’m exchanging mine in September for a face lifted model.
June 17, 2026
Hybrids are not all that efficient petrol engine to kinetic energy to generator to voltage conversion to battery then back from battery to voltage conversion to motor. X energy of petrol might leave you just one fifth of that after all the losses in those processes.
June 16, 2026
Agree Wanderer, a lot of the recent “improvements” in cars take away from the driving experience.
An automatic will always be less efficient than a (well driven) manual car. That said larger cars and those with bigger engines/more power are also more thirsty. Should we limit ICE vehicles to below 1 litre and set minimum mpg levels rather than ban them in favour of EVs? Or should we let people choose what they drive?
June 16, 2026
My view exactly the more such thing they fit the more expensive things to go wrong. Just an electric window repair can end up costing £700. ABS braking often fails too. As do those extra batteries they have to do the start stop at lights. The new battery can be £500 on a C class Merc. after 5 years. How much fuel did it safe in those years perhaps £20 at most with my typical usage but £500 for the battery and carrying all that extra battery weight round. But it helps the car get a slightly lower CO2 score. But in reality it means more CO2 in making the battery and the rest of the system.
I have always preferred manual gear as I can see what is in front of me auto cannot (yet) often the change down a gear on a small hill like a small railway bridge ready for a large hill when you can see that this is not needed as you will be going down hill after two seconds anyway!
June 16, 2026
One advantage of hybrid or EV cars is they can recover energy when braking but if a car is driven well (fuel efficiently) you do not do much breaking so this advantage can be relatively negligible for a good driver. Only about 50% of the kinetic braking energy is likely to be recovered. Plus the gear needed to do this increases weight, cost, complexity and this uses slightly more fuel all the time. You can also have compressed air recovery energy recovery systems for conventional fuel vehicles cars and truck but it very marginal and often not really worth it.
My £1500 electric bike has now done 300 miles how many will it have to save the energy needed to make it (over going by car. It has perhaps saved £50 in petrol so far. Then again I will have had to eat more steak, chips and claret perhaps £100 more?
June 16, 2026
I currently have an automatic which delivers 50mpg on the motorway, even including some slow driving on the M25 but around 35mpg pottering round the neighbourhood. I put the difference down to the fact that it never really has a chance to get warmed up in town as well as the stop/start.
June 16, 2026
If you had bought a sensible, very reliable fully electric vehicle – which you could charge up using free solar electricity at the weekends – you would have been able to get free motoring.
Overwhelmingly, for a Lord of your stature, a Tesla Model Y – the most popular EV sold in the UK – would suit. Tesla registered 24,298 Model Y cars in 2025. Source :- SMMT. They are noted for their reliability.
An alternative would be the all-new BMW iX3. Replacing the older generation, this mid-sized SUV is a massive leap forward. It boasts an ultra-efficient setup giving it an immense electric range of up to 500 miles and It features an 800V charging system that can add 230 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
In 2025, there were 473,348 new fully electric cars registered in the UK. This marked a record high for the UK automotive market, representing a 23.9% increase over the 381,970 electric cars sold the previous year.
EV’s are the future. One has to move with the times
Reply What nonsense. Charging is very expensive and long winded.I value the 750 miles plus range and 5 minute refill of my car.
June 16, 2026
SG. The majority of cars registered were company vehicles or lease cars and then they only represented 24% rather than the 33% mandated.
Domestic sales are minimal.
What sales there are are massively subsidised or heavily discounted.
There is no way the target of 80% by 2030 is going to be reached.
The sale of pure ICE cars is being severely restricted to ramp up the targets. The motor industry is being destroyed as was the aluminium, steel, chemicals and ceramics industries.
Even the most expensive vehicles struggle to give 300 mile on a charge the average being about 220 miles. They have a long way to go before they will become mainstream.
June 16, 2026
@ JR – reply
OVO Energy, Octopus Energy, and British Gas are the major UK energy suppliers currently running dedicated time-window or event-based credit schemes that offer free (or heavily discounted) electricity at the weekends.
These initiatives are powered by a National Energy System Operator framework designed to reward households for using excess green energy. This happens when sunny and windy weekend weather creates a massive oversupply of solar and wind power. This also applies to UK businesses who can shift production to the weekends.
June 16, 2026
Indeed but this a marketing plan the energy is subsidised by higher standing charges and higher bills at other times.
Gas, Coal, Wood at Drax can store and produce power as and when needed at similar costs at all times. It is the renewables that cause all the need for variable pricing, complex metering, “batteries” and grid instability.
June 16, 2026
SG you’ve not considered the forthcoming pay,per,mile charge Rachael is going to introduce. It’s to start at 3p. I predict it will rise to 5p within a couple of years, The up to 10p. It’s a winner for profligate government.
June 16, 2026
To be a similar tax to petrol fuel tax it needs to be about 13p a mile more for a large car or van!
June 16, 2026
It is hardly free motoring, often depreciation and finance for a decent range large EV car and battery per mile can be £1 per mile even if the electricity is free (and it is not really free just cross subsidised). They do not even save any CO2 very often.
June 16, 2026
Last year I purchased a new petrol car, replacing a 4 year old car of the same brand and model. I normally keep my cars for much longer but they stopped making petrol-only cars in 2025, so I decided to refresh mine whilst I still could do so.
I can get 50mpg on longer journeys by simply driving carefully. I’m getting about 35-36mpg on mixed journeys. The car can be driven fully automatic (good for traffic) or I can change up/down if required using the paddles. It can also be placed in full manual mode, such that gear changes are completely controlled by the paddles – good for very steep downhills. It’s a beautiful car and I’m very happy with her – purchased with my own money. If I was still working, the Fleet Manager wouldn’t allow an ICE vehicle of course.
June 16, 2026
Yes Automatic cars burn more fuel. For obvious understandable reasons you omitted to state the make and model. Some Auto cars have at least 3 modes of use eco, sport and just auto. The fuel usage is widely different between them.
Then there is the difference between the types of actual auto box used, there are roughly(depending how you count them) three versions of those as well. Then there is the number of gears an auto with 10 gears is not unheard of, where as CVT could be said either to have one or an infinite amount. As others have said the weight of all these systems is a big contributory factor.
So in fuel consumption terms ‘it all depends’
June 16, 2026
Then factor in a BEV owner is given the Taxpayers money to support its purchase. Taxpayer funded charging points and so on. While the majority of taxpayers cant even afford a new car they are forced to fund those that can.
Missing from equations is the production costs and delivery cost of extra emissions generated just to get a BEV to market. In the main they are produced with energy from Coal fired Power Stations and delivered on oil burning ships. It is said to take 10years of running a BEV to cover/undo the envoralmental damage they do in arriving in the market place.
June 16, 2026
A friend of mine has a Tesla and recently the battery failed, he was very lucky in that the car was still just under 8 warranty for the battery if it wasn’t he said the car would probably be written off.
So a got Googles opinion on this… “what are the reliability statistics for older teslas”
“Older Teslas—particularly 5- to 10-year-old models (2016–2021)—show a split in reliability. While their electric drivetrains are highly durable, body hardware, suspension, and early build quirks yield lower overall reliability scores in long-term industry surveys.”
Long-Term Reliability RankingsConsumer Reports:
In large-scale surveys tracking 5- to 10-year-old vehicles, Tesla has ranked near the bottom of brand reliability. This timeframe heavily reflects the rapid, high-pressure production ramp-up of the Model 3, leading to early build issues.
German TÜV Report: Mandatory vehicle inspection data for 2- to 3-year-old Teslas showed higher-than-average failure rates in European markets, primarily attributed to premature brake wear and suspension defects.
What Car? (UK): Used EV data illustrates a distinct generation gap. Older Model S hatchbacks (2014–2021) tend to score lower (around 78.9%), whereas older Model 3s achieve respectable marks (around 92.8%).”
June 16, 2026
Automatic cars have a mind of their own, but some are stupid.
June 16, 2026
Bit like drivers
June 17, 2026
Well they do not have eyes to see the road, traffic, hills and lights ahead do they? Well not yet!
June 16, 2026
The PDK automatic gearbox is quite efficient and you can take full manual control but they are heavier and more expensive than a manual gearbox
June 16, 2026
Automatic cars do have some advantages but you’d expect them to be better tuned by now to use less fuel.
Automatic EV is the way we are going though – should that be forced to go, and nobody in government, certainly not red ED, have worked out the extra cost in terms of fuel, or rather windmills, that this will entail.
Not to worry though, the net-0 schedule tells us that that we will all soon be using cars a lot less as 15 minute cites evolve and we have no choice but to walk or cycle locally. (You will eventually need a pass to go anywhere else.)
In future we won’t be able to import so much oil as we won’t be doing much in the way of exporting, so cars and potholes will become a thing of the past for most of us. All of those fast EV charging points will be in use only by the political elite as eventually they will be the only ones able to afford such luxuries.
So while we are still allowed to drive we have little choice, it seems, but to get used to the inefficient expensive and wasteful automatic EVs.
June 16, 2026
I drive a Mild hybrid car. To be honest I take little notice of the MPG. I look at the fuel guage and it seems to drop very slowly. ! I would say the gears work fine. The kickdown is helpful and powerful for a 1.4 litre. I barely feel the gear changes
June 16, 2026
I should have said mine is an automatic…..doh!
June 16, 2026
I think you had your automatic vehicle in ‘sport’ mode rather than ‘drive’ or ‘eco’. I have a 3 litre diesel that can do 50mpg on a long run, more than my wife’s 1.4 litre manual. I switched to diesel years ago because I was informed that it would be cleaner and cheaper so I won’t be going electric until I am forced to.
June 17, 2026
Well on a long run A roads or motorway you hardly use the gear box but automatics even left in top gear waste more energy than a manual by a few % typically 3% to 6%.
June 16, 2026
I guess it depends on what you are used to, your driving habits and style.
We have both automatic and manual cars in our family, and I have to say I prefer automatic especially when in dense stop start traffic.
For miles per gallon I always ignore what the fuel gauge ,or on board computer suggests, fill brim to brim and note the mileage to get a true average
Our 2 litre turbo charged auto diesel has averaged 47 miles per gallon over 25,000 miles, on a good run it will get 53mpg, short journeys where it has not fully warmed up will be about 35mpg.
On a 2,500 mile round trip to the South of France, 4 people and fully loaded with baggage, travelling at maximum legal motorway speeds (70 – 80 mph) it has averaged 53 MPG for the last 3 years
Few electric charging points in France, only now are they starting to be installed on their motorway service Stations.
June 16, 2026
It all sounds quite bizarre. Most automatics display the gear the car is in on the dashboard near where it indicates park, drive and reverse. That the one you were loaned didn’t suggests a defect. Also you should be able to force an automatic to select at least one of the lower gears as this gives better cinrtrol downhill and on slippery roads. My experience of loan cars from garages is that they are poorly maintaiined. I’d also suggest many drivers thrash courtesy cars because they aren’t paying for the fuel or maintenance and like to have a bit of fun. I’ve owned both manual and automatic petrol cars and the automatics usually consume a bit more fuel than the manual cars. But the most economical by far has been my hybrid Toyota Camry. 2.5litre engine, 55mpg mostly driving around town/suburbia. Since petrol, diesel and electric motors have different characteristics a well designed hybrid can make the the best use of each engine while driving. It is just good engineering, nothing political, nothing to do with saving the world. However, it is, in my view, utter madness that UK has banned hybrids. they could have provided an immediate and dramatic reduction in vehicular CO2 emissions since they don’t suffer from the resistance to electric cars, eg range anxiety.
June 16, 2026
Lord John, I asked Google this “what are the statistics for efficiency of manual vs automatic cars” and it came back with this:
“Historically, manual transmissions offered better fuel economy, but advancements in automatic transmissions have reversed this. Modern automatic gearboxes—particularly Dual-Clutch Transmissions (DCTs) and Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs)—consistently outperform manuals in both fuel economy and shift times.”
And
“Past Statistics: Traditional automatics used torque converters that “slipped,” resulting in 5% to 10% lower fuel economy than a manual.
Modern Statistics: Today’s automatics have 8, 9, or 10 gears. This allows engines to run at lower RPMs at high speeds, often giving them a 2% to 5% fuel efficiency edge over manual equivalents on the highway.
The “Human Factor”: Manual efficiency varies wildly depending on the driver. An aggressive driver will easily consume more fuel in a manual than a computer-controlled automatic.”
I think for your “loaner” the bad mpg was probably a combination of several different drivers and short journeys and may be “sports” mode rather than “comfort” or “Eco”.
The two automatic cars we both have 8 speed gear boxes and “flappy paddles” to manually change gears if you so wish….
Reply Yes the auto I drove had 9 gears. This produced little variation between any 3 and unnecessary changes.Using The paddle controls did not stop the car overriding my choice when trying to drive it as a manual. I could not get it up to the fuel efficiency of my manual version of the same car.
June 17, 2026
Your Lordship, One last comment from me…
You said not only the poor mpg but also “The Car needed more revs to get moving. The first two gear changes produced noise and lurch. ” This is fairly typical of a car driven not very carefully by a range of drivers and is a good indication that the gear box adaptations need resetting.
An adaptive gearbox (or adaptive transmission control) uses a vehicle’s onboard computer to continuously adjust shift patterns based on your driving style and real-time road conditions. Rather than relying on fixed timings, it evaluates factors like throttle position, braking intensity, and vehicle load to optimize both performance and fuel efficiency.
Over time, these systems can “learn” erratic habits, causing sluggish or jerky shifting. Many manufacturers allow you to perform a simple reset—sometimes called a “throttle reset” or “gearbox adaptation reset”—to clear previous memory and prompt the gearbox to relearn your driving style.
June 16, 2026
You didn’t tell us the make and model of the loaner… What you describe is not typical of a modern automatic…