I am experimenting with several new driving techniques that fall under the general description of hypermiling to reduce my consumption of gasoline. (see my original column and a subsequent blog post). In August, I saved $49.16 when compared to my gas mileage under my old driving style. Not bad, but quite bit lower than the $103.50 I saved in July. I see three reasons for this:

1. I drove less than normal in August because of an out-of-town vacation. So I only filled my gas tank three times. That might seem like an odd rationale. But I’m calculating my hypermiling savings based on how far I drive on a tank of gas, not on how often I don’t drive or how many days I can go before filling my gas tank.

2. Gas prices are substantially lower than in July. I figure my savings based on actual pump prices for each tank of gas, so naturally, spending less on each gallon that I buy automatically leads to lower savings.

3. My gas consumption actually was up a little. In July, I reached almost 45 miles per gallon (compared to 38 mpg under my previous driving style). In August, my average was closer to 42 mpg. I’ve noticed I’m driving a little faster than when I first started hypermiling, and speed really lowers the average. And traffic congestion really picked up on Valley freeways in the last two weeks of August, so I’m encountering more speed-up/slow-down/almost-stop situations. Other hypermilers say constant changes in acceleration also eats into gas mileage.

For September, I’m focusing on keeping my foot off the gas pedal a little more, and I’m experimenting with travel routes and departure times to see if I can deal with congestion better.

Posted in: Transportation |

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