Hypermiling — Doin’ It Yet?

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We’ve featured hypermiling and hypermilers once or twice over the years (well, actually, just once as far as I can tell). Upon reflection, I think we should really give this topic a bit more attention. Luckily, sister site sustainablog just had a story on hypermiling, and we can re-start our hypermiling coverage with a repost of that piece. Here it is:



Hypermiling: the (Not So) Crazy Things Some Will Do for Better Gas Mileage (via sustainablog)

Hypermiling is a relatively recent term––one that has only been around since the early 2000s––focused on finding ways to squeeze the maximum fuel efficiency out of vehicles, provoked by rising fuel costs and environmental concerns. It combines methods first developed during WWII petrol rationing…


Zachary Shahan (2291 Posts)

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on your favorite social network, go to: zacharyshahan.com


  • http://www.facebook.com/KarlUDyson Karl Dyson

    I’ve been Hypermiling for years now and it’s saved me a bloomin’ fortune. You’ve put some great tips together however it only covers the basics. There are some more advanced techniques etc.. on this site http://www.hypermiler.co.uk/ however its more aimed at UK drivers

    • http://zacharyshahan.com/ Zachary Shahan

      Thanks.

  • MaxUtil

    My favorite and most effective hypermiling technique is riding my bike.

    • http://zacharyshahan.com/ Zachary Shahan

      Ha. Ditto. :D

  • Otis11

    This actually works even in larger vehicles. I have to try a truck for various reasons, but using common sense and patience to implement tricks like these I can regularly get 30 mpg in my Toyota Tacoma (EPA rating 18 city/21 highway) and best was just above 37 mpg!

    • http://zacharyshahan.com/ Zachary Shahan

      Really, it seems to me that the basics of hypermiling is about those two things: common sense & patience. Thanks for the note. :D

  • JohnAnnArbor

    “Drafting” = “tailgating.” Sounds like a good way to find out why they call that low bar mounted to the back of big truck trailers the “Mansfield bar.”

    • http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/ Neil Blanchard

      You still get significant benefit from following large trucks at a safe (2 second) distance. On busy highways, there is a strong “corridor effect” of traveling in a line of vehicles.

      Nobody is saying you should drive unsafely. But you can drive as smartly as you can and save lots of fuel and money.

      Neil

  • http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/ Neil Blanchard

    Once you realize that ecodriving saves you a bunch of money, you will wonder why you didn’t drive this way all along! I have saved thousands of dollars. My car (Scion xA) is rated at 30MPG for the Combined EPA rating, and I am averaging about 46MPG year round.

    This means that I can drive between 120 and 250 miles farther per tank. Before I learned about ecodriving or did any aerodynamic mods, I was already averaging about 37MPG and I got about 375 miles per tank; which is already better than the EPA rating. Now I average about 46MPG and I get about 500 miles per tank average. My best tank average was 55.3MPG and I’ve driven over 600 miles on several tanks.

    Not only that, I find that once I am concentrating on something I can control – and I stop worrying about things that I cannot control (like traffic conditions), I am much more relaxed. Ecodriving (aka hypermiling) reduces stress and saves you a lot of money – and your carbon footprint is greatly reduced.

    Trip planning helps a lot, as well – drive to the farthest place first and then do the shorter hops on the return trip. This lets the car warm up and get running more efficiently as soon as possible.

    Neil

  • jonesey jonesey

    This has always sounded like a lot of work, more of a hobby than a way of driving. These techniques won’t be necessary when we all have Volt-style vehicles, which is a good thing. Increasing CAFE standards will work a lot better than trying to educate and change the behavior of hundreds of millions of drivers.

    • http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/ Neil Blanchard

      Ecodriving still is important even on hybrids and EV’s. Getting the most out of the energy we use is going to be the most important thing we can do to minimize climate change. In a Volt, the average driver goes over 1,000 miles on the 8 gallon gas tank – but with ecodriving they could go over 2,000 miles! An EV that has a range say, of 75 miles can go 100+ miles on a charge. With better aerodynamics, a Leaf could go 140 miles – almost 2X the distance of the EPA range.

      Neil