Devastating effect of fuel rationing laid bare: Owners of vehicles such as the 2026 Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger or Toyota landCruiser among others to suffer if fuel restrictions put in place

The federal government’s emergency fuel plan could devastate ute and 4WD owners.

Documents acquired by former crossbench senator Rex Patrick reveal the government’s emergency fuel response plan, which could include fuel rationing.

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Average diesel fuel price in NSW on Thursday 25th of March is $2.957, which buys you about 13.5 litres of diesel.

Most dual-cab utes have 80-litre fuel tanks, which means $40 fills up about 16 per cent of a tank.

More concerning is that drivers could be restricted to a little more than 100km of driving.

Most dual-cabs use somewhere in the vicinity of 8.0 litres of fuel per 100km driven, according to lab tests.

In the real world those figures are much higher. CarsGuide’s GVM road tests — which includes significant driving time at the vehicle’s maximum payload — paints a far worse picture.

In those tests fuel usage on popular utes such as the new Toyota HiLux and the Volkswagen Amarok jumped to 10 litres per 100km.

So, if you use a ute to haul a load or equipment or if you tow, you could be sweating if fuel rationing is enforced in Australia.

Factor in a lot of tradies living in major city urban fringes and regional areas and any measure could slam the brakes on those industries.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has currently ruled out implementing the $40 fuel limit, and told Sky News the proposal is out of date.

“This plan has existed since 2006. It’s got various ways things might roll out, which governments can work with. It’s sort of a suite of options.

“I’ve pointed to this plan in the past and been saying, look there are preparations in place for the very worst case... in that sense, it’s a bit of an out of date document in terms of that $40 approach,” he said.