Hypermiling: a Common Sense Response to Rising Fuel Prices

While billions of dollars are spent on alternative fuel sources and hybrid and electric vehicle research, some North American drivers are taking immediate steps to dramatically improve their fuel economy. And they're doing it for free.

There are no new scientific discoveries behind hypermiling. The techniques that comprise hypermiling are based on long-held knowledge and make perfect sense. Individually, they can account for small improvements in fuel economy. But collectively, the results can be quite dramatic. Some people report a doubling of their fuel economy.

Some typical hypermiling techniques:

• Keep air pressure close to the tire manufacturer's recommended limit. This reduces friction and therefore reduces fuel consumption. This could also result in accelerated wear in the center of the tire tread, so monitor your tires carefully when adopting this technique.
• Accelerate slowing. It requires more energy to quickly accelerate.
• Don't speed! Air drag becomes exponentially higher as your speed increases. This is a particular problem for us four wheelers whose vehicles have brick-like aerodynamics.
• Lose weight. The more weight you have, the more energy it costs to move it from rest, or to accelerate it to a higher speed. Remove all non-essentials from your vehicle. Keep your tools, recovery gear, and other off-roading gear at home when you're doing your daily commute.
• Avoid stop-and-go driving. This gets back to the point about acceleration. Acceleration costs energy. Starting costs energy, and stopping wastes it. Driving in the slow lane generally results in fewer speed changes. Avoiding rush hour means less stop-and-go traffic. Choosing a different route could also result in a smoother drive.
• Coast instead of braking. If you're approaching a stop sign or stop light, take your foot off the gas pedal so your car will slow down naturally. This uses much less fuel than driving to the stop sign and braking at the last minute.
• Use your cruise control. It prevents you from accidentally increasing your speed. Another advantage is that you can go into cruise control at a slow speed and then set it to a higher speed (eg: 100 km/h). The advantage of doing it this way is that the cruise control will accelerate you to that speed slowly, thereby saving fuel.
• When buying a car, consider a manual transmission. While modern automatics are quite efficient, the manual is still the most efficient choice. When driving a manual, shift gears at lower rpms.
• Shut off your engine if you think you'll be stopped for longer than 2 minutes.
• Keep your car properly maintained. Perform tune-ups at the recommended intervals and check your tire pressure frequently.