Hypermiling Driving - Reduce Fuel Consumption and Save Money at the Pumps

High gas prices are on everyone's mind right now. It seems as if the cost of fuel will never stop rising. What can you do about it? One thing you can do is reduce the amount of gas you are using. There are many ways to do this including the usual solutions like carpooling, driving more fuel efficient vehicles, walking, public transportation, riding bicycles, etc. but one method of saving fuel that is gaining popularity lately is hypermiling driving.

What is hypermiling driving? Hypermiling driving is a set of driving techniques that once learned will help you save money on fuel by using less of it during your normal daily driving activities. Instead of driving fewer miles, it focuses on skillful driving that gets the most fuel efficiency possible out of your existing vehicle without doing any modifications to the vehicle. Here are some basic hypermiling techniques you can learn to start getting the most out of your gas dollars. There are, of course, more extreme methods but we will focus on some common sense less extreme methods for now.

The first, and perhaps the most important, step is to track your vehicles gas mileage. You must be able to track the MPG (miles per gallon) your car is getting so you will know if your fuel consumption is improving and by how much. An easy way to do this is the next time you fill up, reset your cars trip odometer. Be sure to fill up the tank completely then drive as usual. When it is time to refuel again, fill the tank up completely again and write down the number of miles driven on the trip odometer and the number of gallons it took to fill the tank. Divide the number of miles you drove by the number of gallons you just put in the tank. The number you get is the number of MPG your car got for that period of driving. Reset your car's trip odometer for the next driving period.

The second step is to start becoming aware of your thought processes while driving. How you think relates directly to how you drive. Do you drive aggressively? Do you leave some buffer space between you and the vehicle in front of you? Do you wait until you get to a red light to start slowing down? The fact is that most drivers use their brakes way more than they actually need to and this translates into higher fuel consumption. You burn gas every time you accelerate, and the key is to use that energy produced to get the most mileage out of your trip. When you brake excessively you are wasting the energy produced during acceleration by creating heat in the brakes instead of using the forward momentum to your advantage.

Try leaving at least two seconds of space between you and the vehicle in front of you. The instant you see brake lights let off of the accelerator and coast until you need to apply the brakes. With a little practice this will become second nature. Watch closely though, if the vehicle in front slams on their brakes you need to be ready to slow down a bit faster. Watch ahead of you for red lights, yellow lights, and stale green lights (lights that have been green for a while). When you see a red or yellow light, let off the gas pedal and coast until you actually need to apply the brakes to stop. You will use the forward momentum energy created during acceleration more efficiently and you won't wear out your brakes as fast. Try to minimize the amount of time you are spending sitting idle as much as possible, you get zero gas mileage while idling.

The third step is to help eliminate traffic waves and jams. Getting stuck in traffic jams can cause you to waste enormous amounts of fuel. Stop and go traffic is a big gas waster but there is something you can do about it. Carry a big "anti-traffic bubble" along in front of your vehicle. Huh? Let me explain, traffic jams are caused when traffic starts moving slower for some reason, such as a merge area, and all the cars involved pack closely together eliminating all the empty spaces between them making it impossible for other cars to merge quickly and therefore making the traffic jam worse and worse. This acts like a domino effect, the effect of the slowdown, cars packing together, actually causes the slowdown to get worse.

Plan and look ahead. If you know you are coming up on a slow spot or jam you can act early to help eliminate it before you reach it. Instead of driving normal speed until you have to stop, increasing the jam, start slowing down way ahead of the jam by a few MPH creating a large empty space in front of your vehicle. Doing this will do two things, first it will give the slow traffic ahead time to clear out and cars the space needed to merge, second it will regulate the traffic behind you so there is no more traffic jam, only a slightly slow flow. You won't have to stop and go in the jam and you will save gas. But won't people just pass me and fill the empty space? Well yes and no. This really only works well during heavy traffic when people have a hard time passing or changing lanes. Some people will pass you and enter your bubble but those aggressive drivers that pass you will jump ahead into the jam and the more thoughtful drivers will go right along with you blocking the aggressive drivers in the back from jumping ahead and helping you clear the jam before you reach it. It is impossible to help clear the blockage once you are in it, you must act long before you reach it for the cumulative effect to work.

The fourth step is to accelerate slowly after a stop. When you are stopped it takes a large amount of effort to get your car moving again. It takes less effort to get a moving object moving faster than it does to get a stopped object moving to begin with. When you are starting to go from a stop, if you are driving an automatic transmission vehicle, take your foot off of the brake and let the car start to roll for a second before you hit the gas, then apply the gas slowly to accelerate. This gives your car a chance to start moving making it much more fuel efficient to accelerate than accelerating from a stopped position. Do not do this if you are going uphill or if you are in a standard transmission car, you could cause an accident.

The fifth step is to learn to use your cruise control to accelerate and decelerate. Accelerating slowly and decelerating without hitting the brakes will improve your gas mileage dramatically and using your cars cruise control is a great way to keep things constant. Using the "accel" button on the cruise control will allow you to accelerate in a constant manner eliminating the gas wasting "pedal punch" the foot tends to make. Using the "decel" button or the "cancel" button will allow you to slow down without hitting your brakes until you get to a point where you need to brake. This takes practice and you should always be very careful using this technique and keep your braking foot ready as the cruise control can't apply the brakes for you. Never use this technique in a situation where you need to accelerate quickly such as a highway on ramp. Use your cruise control whenever it is safe to do so as it will automate regulating your speed in the most fuel efficient manner possible. Make sure you read your owners manual and learn how your particular cars cruise control works so you can use this technique safely.

There are more extreme hypermiling methods that have caused some controversy in the media lately, the tips covered here are some of the more basic methods that most people should be able to master. Learn more hypermiling techniques, as well as more cool gas saving methods and devices, and increase your fuel mileage even further.