With our country’s absurd gas prices, “hypermiling” seems like an appropriate choice for the New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2008 Word of the Year. Originally coined by Wayne Gerdes of Clean MPG, hypermiling describes the use of techniques to get maximum fuel efficiency out of one’s vehicle.
Gerdes founded CleanMPG, an online community that provides users with a forum for sharing techniques to increase gas mileage and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, in order to help the public deal with rising fuel costs. The website is free to join and contains forums full of recommendations on how to hypermile.
Similar to CleanMPG is EcoDriving USA, another online green community that supports hypermiling. Although EcoDriving is less user-based than CleanMPG, it still provides the public with tips, information, and current news about hypermiling.
Hypermiling can be as simple as grouping one’s errands into a single trip to keep the car’s engine warmed up, or turning the air conditioning on at higher speeds to reduce the drag caused by open windows. By implementing even just one of these techniques, drivers can increase the mileage of a tank of gas and release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
While hypermiling is a beneficial practice overall, some people worry that going overboard will increase the danger on the roadways. The American Automobile Association (AAA) recently released a statement warning drivers against extreme hypermiling, saying that some of the methods used are actually quite dangerous to both cars and drivers.
Even though no laws prevent hypermiling techniques, many of these practices may be perceived as reckless or violate other traffic violations. Some drivers may over-inflate their tires to increase mileage, but this lowers the amount of tire in contact with the road, thus giving the driver less control over the vehicle. Similarly, although tailing a large vehicle might reduce wind resistance, it also does not allow proper stopping time should the large vehicle break unexpectedly.
Other techniques, such as driving barefoot to have more a more sensitive touch on the pedal or rolling through stop signs, are actually illegal. For more economical driving, AAA recommends that people avoid things proven to reduce fuel efficiency, such as stop and go traffic, but that extreme techniques actually do more harm than good.
If used correctly, hypermiling can be helpful to both people’s wallets and the atmosphere. CleanMPG and EcoDrivingUSA recommend that drivers should use their best judgment when exercising hypermiling techniques. It is important to pay attention to the manufacturer recommendations for each specific make or model, and to not engage in driving that may be a danger to others on the road.
There is no need to go overboard to be a successful hypermiler. Pick one or two techniques to put into practice in the next month, and see if anything changes. Even the smallest changes in driving habits can make a difference at the pump and in the air.
Ana:
November 20th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
woah!! a new word!! and it’s not bootilicious ^_^
Paul S.:
November 21st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Many simple techniques for hypermiling should be taught in driver’s ed.
The culture of fear in this society runs thru everything, even hypermiling I guess. Of course we should all be careful. We should be careful all the time, but come on! Let’s spend more time teaching how to do it right and safely rather than say just say avoid doing stupid things.
So here is a list of tricks, in order of effectiveness.
1. Drive a little more gently. Accelerate slower, drive slower.
2. Don’t accelerate uphills unless absolutely necessary.
3. Coast where ever possible, like down hills, approaching stop lights, gaining on the car in front of you.
The only controversial one is #3. A little explanation is warranted. There are a few rules of thumb for #3. On newer cars with automatic transmissions made after somewhere around 2005, just take your foot completely off the gas when going downhill or approaching something that you can tell will require you to slow down or stop. If the car feels like the engine is braking when coasting, put the transmission in neutral. (Practice this in a parking lot at low speed first.)
On older cars with manual transmissions, push the clutch in for short coasts, put the car in neutral and take your foot off the clutch for longer coasts.
I drive a 1992 Saab 900S with 300,000 miles on it. It has a manual transmission. With “normal” driving it gets about 28 mpg. If I hypermile with the techniques discussed above, the mileage goes up to 34. If I turn the engine off when coasting (takes practice and a bit of finesse to start the car again with the clutch) the mileage goes up to 36 mpg. That’s more than 25% higher than average!