Hypermiling

Speaking of driving I recently learned about a new trend to increasing your mpg by simply changing the manner in which you drive. The basic techniques summarized in the below video are:

-Accelerate and brake slowly
-Turn off the AC
-Close your windows
-Keep your tire pressure high
-Break as little as possible
-Avoid idling when possible(if the stop light is going to be >7 seconds it’s probably more fuel efficient to shut the engine off)
-When on the highway try to use cruise as much as possible and the “accel” and “decel” buttons instead of the foot brake and gas peddle as they are more fuel efficient
-55mpg is the most fuel efficient speed

Using some of these techniques I’ve increased my gas mileage considerably, though I’ll be the first to admit my sample size is a completely statistically insignificant two since I started trying it. I drive an old beater 1997 dodge caravan. It has official mpg ratings of 16mpg city, 22mpg highway and 18mpg combined. My last fillup before I tried hypermiling I got 18mpg. This should be fairly typical for the driving I do. The last time I filled up after I’d been hypermiling I got 22.7mpg. The majority of that last tank was highway driving, but it’s still almost a full mile/gallon faster than the rating and there was certainly some/albeit a small amount of city driving thrown in.

Some math on my average monthly driving:
700 miles/month @18 miles/gallon = 38.89 gallons/month*$4/gallon = $155.56/month
700 miles/month @19 miles/gallon = 36.84 gallons/month*$4/gallon = $147.37/month
Savings = ~$8.19/month per each mile increase in mpg

That’s like free Netflix! More importantly its free money, good for the environment, and fun/challenging to see how well you can do.

Safety
As with all things there are different levels of hypermilers. You will have to find your personal level of increased risk you are willing to accept for the increased savings at the pump. The hardcore hypermilers can double their gas mileage by shutting the engine off to coast when going downhill. I’m not that hardcore and I don’t recommend it. In neutral with the car off your steering and breaking ability will be hampered considerably. I will shutoff the engine at very low speeds leading up to a red light, but never at high speeds. If you google personal injury lawyer and hypermiling you will get a ton of hits. Shutting the engine off whenever you’re in traffic is going to decrease your safety by limiting your options and decreasing your reaction time in the case of an emergency but it will save you money at the pump. Try to be smart.

Maintenance
Hypermiling is going to be harsh on your car. Starting and stopping your engine constantly will wear your starter out faster. If you have a manual transmission you can save gas and your starter by popping the clutch whenever possible. This will be hard on your transmission. If you do it right the money you save with increased fuel efficiency will cover your additional maintenance fees with plenty left over. Some people recommend different rules of thumbs for how long you can idle at a red light and still save gas. I’ve read that starting the car uses ~6 seconds of idling time, but you will have to take into the additional maintenance costs to the starter so some people recommend a 10 second rule or even a 30 second rule. If you don’t have a fuel injected car, forget about trying to idle as starting your engine chugs gas, but you probably already know that (hence why you may be reading haha).

If you don’t want to try shutting off your car in traffic at all that doesn’t mean can’t call yourself a hypermiler. You can still utilize a number of the above tips. Try to accelerate and break a bit smoother, keep your tire pressure high, minimize the AC usage and try not to speed too much.

As you can see fuel efficiency drops off pretty quickly at high speeds. The difference between going 60mph or 70mph can be 5-20% worse fuel efficiency or the equivalent of an extra 20-80 cents/gallon at the pump. In a half hour trip of 30 miles, you would get there in 30 minutes driving 60mph or 25.7 minutes driving 70mph. Is that extra 4 minutes of time worth the extra dollar to dollar fifty you are paying for it worth it? Would you like to save/make an extra $20/hour by simply driving a few mph slower?

PS To anyone who says why don’t you just ride your motorcycle everywhere. My motorcycle gets ~50mpg which is great and all but I recently watched Mythbusters and was shocked to learn that Motorcycles emit 8000% more carbon monoxide than cars Not to mention I can’t cart ATMs on a bike and sometimes I just don’t feel like safety gearing it up for a quick ride to the grocery store.