Question of the Week: Have you tried hypermiling and what’s been your experience?
Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.
Several commenters on a previous question mentioned “hypermiling,” which refers to techniques some drivers use to try to increase their gas mileage. Techniques range from simple to complex, from things EPA recommends to the controversial.
Have you tried hypermiling and what’s been your experience?
En español: Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.
En respuesta a una pregunta anterior, algunos comentaristas mencionaron que practicaban el “hypermiling”, el cual se refiere a técnicas que varios conductores utilizan para tratar de aumentar el millaje de la gasolina. Las técnicas varían desde las simples a las complejas, así como las cosas que EPA recomienda hasta las controversiales.
¿Ha tratado de hacer el “hypermiling” y cuál ha sido su experiencia?
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
I use a moderate hypermiling technique and never carry it to extremes. Even so I’ve improved my combined mileage from 21 to 23 mpg (about 10%). When I’m alone on the road my hypermiling is greater than in heavy traffic.
My major techniques are: inflating tires to 40 psi, trying to never let the car stop, coasting when possible, and only accelerating when going downhill (in trafffic I maintain uphill speed, but when alone on the road I let the car slow down going up hills).
This is incorrect except for certain hybrids or electric cars. In 99.9% of cars the A/C compressor is run by a belt that is turned by the engine directly. The compressor is hard to turn, so it takes engine power to do it. That is the reason mileage goes down when the A/C is on.
I use a plug-in electric lawnmower because it is non-polluting and does not use gasoline, and because of these: EPA420-F-07-032 and http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/19-yard.pdf
I use several gas mowers I have about 8 hours of grass cutting a week at home. I need power and need to be about to ride on a mower. The mower I have doesn’t seem to use much gas, but at 4:00 a gal it is still too much.
used simple and complex drafting techiques…stay at 55
Hi! Unfortunately we still use a gas mower most of the time, but there are more eco-friendly powermowers now. I will certainly look into buying one when we need a new mower.
In the meantime, we keep trying to reduce the amount of yard that has to be mowed by increasing the size of our vegetable and flower gardens, planting bushes, blackberry plants, and trees. Next on the list is to plant a large plot in wildflowers. I have one friend who planted the whole yard in wildflowers.
I was always taught to turn off all lights not in use at time plus use natural light whenever possible. Also, I turn up the thermostat when not at home when weather is warm and turn it down when weather is cooler. There is no reason to over run the AC/heat and waste energy plus think about the cost savings.
There are a lot of things.
1. Changed from a 3 gallon/minute shower head to a shower head that flows at 1.25 gpm
2. Changed from T-12 linear bulbs to T-8 bulbs. I get the same light from 32 watt bulb than I did from a 40 watt old style bulb. Use compact flourescent bulbs when I can
3. Added insulation to the outside of my house and than added new siding.
4. I am using 3 pane windows with argon/krypton. These windows never even fog up even at really cold temps outside
5. I have an arctic entry
6. I installed a wood stove and use it when it is below 0 F.
7. Installed outside combustion air for my oil fired boiler
8. Try to use the stove on cold days to cook roasts etc.
9. Added roof and floor insulation
10. Wash clothes in cold water
11. Usually take showers rather than baths. A shower at 1.25 gpm uses around 10 gallons of water vs. a 40 gallons of water for a bath.
If I take a bath a let the water set in there for a while to capture the heat and when cooler drain the tub.
12. Weatherstrip the doors.
One thing of many my little family do to save energy in the winter and summer: we challenge ourselves to see how many days through the summer and winter we can go without or minimal heating or cooling. How we accomplish this during the summer is we open all windows and doors as soon as the air temp is to our liking and leave them open all night until we leave for work in the morning. Then in the morning we close all windows and doors then all the blinds to keep sun rays from heating our home up. It works great and we were happy with our energy bill which ran around 55-60 dollars a month due to our efforts. In middle of winter we run our heating to around 67-70 degrees, when we need it, and bundle up in our favorite pagamas and socks for the evening with hot beverages like tea or cocoa. We also keep heavy blankets out on our couch to snuggle up in when working on the computer or watching a movie. We love the challenge because we save money and resources for our daughter and her future!
I inflated my tires. I hear we can increase our mileage by doing that.
I thought this was supposed to be about energy vampires. So I’ll speak to that instead of “hypermiling.” The biggest energy vampire around is Al Gore. The Democrat party is a very close second.
This is the first I’ve heard of hypermiling…is that the new age term for drive slower?
Back in the 70′s, my dad taught me how to calculate the gas savings when you drive 55 rather than 65, and also compare the difference in time in getting to your destination. The difference tended to be around 10-15 minutes. The gas mileage and gas savings is significant. If the driver is taking a longer trip, what’s 10-15 minutes difference in arrival time?
I think we should LOWER the speed limit again, as was done in the 70′s. Yes, it’s unpopular. But I don’t see people wanting to slow down voluntarily. And we all need to make sacrifices in order to bring our energy consumption into check.
Do we really want to see what happens if we continue to take from the environment and give nothing back?
I would like to see a national population goal of 100 million people.
We could reach that goal in several generations if we had a policy of allowing a family a maximum of 2 children.
What would you have the EPA do to help the environment and human health?
if you look at soda bottles, they can only be recycled in about 7 or 8 states for cash, and not even in the District of Columbia….which means that potentially millions of soda bottles, beer bottles, and cans are going to landfills each year in the USA….WHY CAN’T EPA REQUIRE MANDATORY RECYLCING OF GLASS, STEEL, PAPER, CARDBOARD, ALUMINUM AND OTHER RECYCLABLE PRODUCTS BY ALL 50 STATES, THE DISTIRCT OF COLUMBIA AND ALL US TERRITORIES???
What are the EPA’s updated EPP criteria for products?
Question about environment to public and to all of us those who care about it:
Do we really worked, working for protection of environment? and all measures taken byall of us(including developed countries) are enough to protect environment?
Have you ever though that industries of the big countries make up their minds to accept the culpability in the destroy of the environment?
I have to agree that this is nearly impossible in the Baltimore/DC metro area. Even at 60 MPH drivers on I-95 and both beltways are ready to run you off the road for going too slow.
thank you
Doing anything quickly or consistently in Los Angeles is a joke. It’s stop and go all the time. One never gets to use cruise control, if you have it, nor shift to third if you have that.
We have to work more to take care of the than is our
Because it’s regulated by state, not the federal government.
I’ve been coasting in neutral for years, and I have always been the envy of all my friends when it comes to gas savings. In city traffic, if you stay about 3/4 car length behind the guy in front, you can switch to neutral and coast along with slow traffic. I now live in San Francisco, and it even works in this traffic disaster.
Also get your tires filled with nitrogen rather than at an air pump. It costs about $4 per tire, but is incredible in keeping your tires at max for long periods of time. I am saving about 6% extra –on top of everything else I do.
I met a really old guy who was a mechanic who advised me that 38psi would increase my gas mileage considerably. The man was absolutely right. I get 38 mpg highway in my 2000 Ford Zx2 Escort.
I LOVE hypermiling. I have a 2000 Ford Escort ZX3 6-cylinder. With care this vehicle gets 38 mpg on the highway, and I have to admit that I do about 3-5 mi. over speedlimits on long trips. But I keep my tires close to the highest inflation rates, have them filled with nitrogen, have my fuel line blown out regularly (amazing round town savings on that one), coast whenever possible. I also have fooled around with different brands of gasoline and find that I get much better mileage with certain brands. Unfortunately, one of those is EXXon, and I have issues with that company; so I struggle with the tradeoffs. Also, at speed limit, do not brake before curves…take your foot off the gas and let the car coast into the curve at which point you slowly accelerate again. I learned this from a race car driver. It’s a great safety tip as well as you will never “lose it” or drift over even on sharp curves. BTW, I am partially disabled now and have to use an automatic, but standard shifts have amazing gas savings.
Happy driving and saving!
I was trying this back in the summer when gas was $4.00 a gallon.
But a have to be honest and say I forgot all about it when gas came back down. I need to start back working on it.
Good Luck,
Mike, can you tell us WHICH device you got? I’ve heard some of them aren’t much good, or that the cost outweighs the benefit. It would sure be nice to know the one I’m getting will work!
Thanks very much!
i owned a hybrid car!
Mike,
All that caught my eye throughout your entire comment was “(even if it may irritate others).” People and not the gas efficiency of your car will ultimately determine how safely you get from Point A to Point B. So while you’re consumed by your greedy, self interested desires to save $.05 per mile think of others, because while you’re on the road, a frustrated driver will not only impact your driving habits but they’ll impact your and other people’s safety as well.
Doing anything quickly or consistently in Los Angeles is a joke. It’s stop and go all the time. One never gets to use cruise control, if you have it, nor shift to third if you have that.
I love hypermiling, it maximize fuel economy and attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s vehicle and one’s driving techniques. I tried it with my Dodge, and it gives me good response.
I think i have but too shy to tell my experience…
Hypermilling sounds like too much effort, but I’ve done hyper plenty. I did once get stuck behind a big fat RV and rather than getting pissed, I just rode a yard or 2 behind him for 30 miles. I don’t know what gas mileage I got, but I also could not tell if the gas needle moved in all that time.
I’m driving a 2002 G500 mercedes with terrible gas mileage and have been “kind of” hypermilling (when not in a hurry) for the last year and my gas mileage has definitely gone up.
I’ve been able to raise my city mileage by 2mpgs on average in the city, but find it hard to stay on or below the speed limit on the highways, so I tend to cruise-control it to speed limit plus 7 mph. The hypermilling techniques that I do use are:
keeping my rpms below 2500
keeping a 3-4 car distance from others in front
anticipating red lights and stop signs, and laying off the gas pedal well ahead of them
using the brakes as little as rationally possible
turning off the car when idling
not warming up the car, just going real slow until it warms up
when I tried to access the description of your latest beautiful work – I received the following…I just had to share…while it may be a circuit/server issue…it could also be folks rushing to see your work. Thank you for sharing.
Hypermiling? I have to ride within a car length of the person in front of me to prevent persons in the lane next to me flying up to cut me off.
LOL
I have hypermiled since before it was called hypermiling. One of my own “tricks” is to take my foot off the gas pedal before depressing the clutch when shifting gear. The timing here is important, if you still are holding on the gas when you depress the clutch, you get an rpm surge that is like pouring expensive fuel right out the window.
How can you save 6% after investing $16 towards nitrogen while there isn’t any investment at all, except in the tires’ life, to check and adjust tire pressure accordingly. By the way, how often do your
tires need adjustment and at what cost for a gas with approximately 30% percent purity over an air pump.
I’m sure my car would save time and gas at 110 mph. JUST CANT PROVE IT WITHOUT A COST!
I’m lost with your formula about savings.
I’d get better mileage at one hundred ten. I cant prove it to the cop though.
I normaly fall asleep behind the wheel at low speed (low concertration), therefore slow speeds aren’t for me. Good luck though