I think people are more likely to cut back on the discretionary spending, which is how recessions start. Got to buy the fuel but don't have to replace the car?

Trundled slowly back to Northants from Heathrow four days ago on recently widened but completely congested roads (M25,M1) - funny how this expensive fuel is not nearly expensive enough to have made a noticeable impact on the number of cars on the road.

That's because the vast majority of people have no other reasonable choice. In the early part of my working life (1997-98), I live in South Herts and worked in North London. The journey by public transport (including walking at each end) took 1.5hrs, whereas the car journey - even in the rush hour and on a school day - took 30 mins tops, mainly because it was the far more direct journey.

Oh, and it cost me (at the time) about 1/3rd the price.

I somehow doubt if the same journey, even in my much larger car I now own, would be anywhere near the cost of going by public transport, never mind the time or terrible journey on cramped buses and tubes.

In fact the more people that go EV, the less demand for Petrol Diesel there is, eventually that will drive down the price unless HMRC interfere. That's how supply and demand works. You ought to be thanking us actually.... I guess our high prices are due in no small measure from the US decision last year to go from an energy exporter to an energy importer. Greater demand increasing the cost. Thanks Dementia Joe. LGB.

As more people buy EVs and demand for petrol/diesel fuel goes down, the refineries will simply divert production somewhere else, or even import less foreign fuel - so don't expect lower UK demand for petrol/diesel to drive the price down.

All I am unsure of is how much total demand for oil in related to cars, and how much to power generation, shipping, aviation etc which may not reduce demand as rapidly.

You forgot to include heating oil, whose seasonal demand affects the price of UK diesel.