Been out and about this weekend in a VW Passat Bluemotion in connection with a feature I am writing for Business Traveller magazine (September edition).

One thing which will be striking most drivers is how much more pleasant the roads are at the moment, now nobody can afford to put any fuel in their tanks. I’m not sure if that means congestion charging will work…or that it means  there is no need for it!

Secondly, I was coming back from Lyme Park on the A6 at Stockport (anybody in Greater Manchester will know that is the original road to hell, full of traffic lights, queues, and idiot parkers) and glanced at my average fuel consumption in this reasonably big saloon: 65mpg!!!!

Well I’m drivoing it down to the motor show next week so lets see how it performs on a long motorway run.