Petrol and diesel owners could save fuel by pressing a common button available to almost every motorist, according to experts. 

Graham Conway, specialist at Select Car Leasing has revealed a feature found on most mobile phones could help motorists boost efficiency in seconds. 

Although mobile phones cannot be used while behind the wheel, sat nav features such as Google Maps are allowed as long as drivers don’t touch the device.

These applications have bumped up their sophistication with some offering drivers the chance to travel by the most fuel-efficient route.

This will select roads which have the perfect balance of traffic conditions, elevation and speed limits to determine which will burn less petrol and diesel in the tank. 

Mr Conway explained: “Google Maps is full of great features – but there is one in particular that is commonly ignored which can prove a huge boost for motorists.

“All you have to do to take advantage of it is to enter your destination into the app and choose ‘directions’, then look for the three small vertical dots in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

“Select ‘options’ and then look for the ‘prefer fuel-efficient routes’ toggle, which you can switch on by moving to the right. You can also select it via the settings in your profile.

“The software will then use a selection of specific data to make sure you are not only saving on fuel but also being kind to the planet.”

The Google Website confirms their map technology can “estimate fuel or energy efficiency for different vehicle types”. 

To get the most from the technology, motorists must select which vehicle they own between petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric. 

With the setting turned on, Google reveals the software will “consider fuel efficiency in addition to factors like real-time traffic, route simplicity and road conditions”

It means the tool will not just take into account the fastest route if this will burn more fuel in the process.