Save money on gas with “HYPERMILING”

DO YOU PRACTICE “HYPERMILING”?

No, it’s not an extreme sport (yet) but hypermiling can help you lower your vehicle’s fuel consumption. With more people traveling for summer vacation, a little attention on how you drive can go a long way towards cutting back on fuel usage. Hypermiling means improving fuel mileage in a motor vehicle by adopting certain driving techniques. Let’s explore some here.

Car Maintenance:

• performing regular vehicle services
• properly inflating your vehicle’s tires
• using the proper grade motor oil
• replacing your car’s air filter

All of the above will help your vehicle perform more efficiently.

Planning:

• carpooling
• grouping your trips together and visiting the furthest destination first (a warm engine performs more efficiently),
• avoiding ethanol gasoline
• driving during off hours if possible to avoid traffic
• removing excess weight, roof racks, etc. when not in use
• parking the car for easy departure rather than driving around for the closest spot

The above are all simple ways to get better gas mileage.

Driving Techniques:

• use cruise control
• drive with the windows down when traveling below 55 mph and using air conditioning when traveling above 55 mph (this varies with the type of vehicle you drive)
• don’t let the vehicle idle when stationary more than 60 seconds
• anticipate coming to a stop by taking your foot off the gas to slow the vehicle before needing to brake

The above are driving techniques to lower fuel consumption. A technique that is a little trickier to use is the “coasting” method. Similar to anticipating breaking, when traveling down hills, just let the car coast when going down hills (build up enough momentum getting up the hill).

Methods NOT recommended for lower gas consumption:

• putting the car in neutral while coasting,
• driving too slowly for traffic conditions
• “drafting” (when driving, this is also known as “tailgating” – driving too close to the vehicle ahead, especially tractor trailers)

The last three are all potentially dangerous practices and not worth the potential fuel savings.

You can click HERE for more general information, or use Google to find recommendations for your type of vehicle.

Do you have another hypermiling tip? Send it along to us at info@seedsgroup.org and we’ll pass it along. Safe travels!