With the high costs of gas prices these days people will go to some ridiculous lengths so save a few cents a liter. One thing that many of them overlook is the how they use their vehicles. I’ve always though it was a little insane to see an enormous line of cars idling outside a gas station to get a $0.02 savings per liter. The truth is that the way we drive, when we drive what we drive and how we drive can have a huge impact on our fuel consumption.

I’ve compiled a list of driving tips and common mistakes that can save both the environment and your wallet:

Speeding up to slow down…..

Sounds kind of dumb eh, well maybe that’s because it is and it happens a lot more then you may realize. I live in Toronto and I see this all the time I’m making my way home from work and I’m about 800ft from a red light and I throw my car in neutral using my momentum to carry me towards the stop light slowing down as I go. The car in the lane beside me is actually still accelerating towards the light and while I’m about 300 ft away I see the other car pull to a stop and wait. As I near the light I begin to slow down more passing the time until I’m between 150 – 20 ft away the light turns green and as my car is still moving between 20-5 kph. I literally sling shot past the parked cars that have to begin from a dead stop.

Another time this habit eats away at fuel is when stuck in a traffic Jam. I actually learned this from watching truckers. Next time you’re stuck in stop and go traffic take a look at that Mack truck in the center lane and compare it to the suv in front of you. You notice that the truck has not sopped moving once over the last km. yet the suv has stopped and started about 20 times. Why? Because he’s speeding up to slow down of course. By staying at a slow but consistent speed the trucker is able to keep the momentum of the truck moving, stopping and starting in vehicles of that size and weight probably have a lot to do with why they do this. The suv see’s a 25-30 ft stretch of road and speeds up to reach the back of the car in front and hit the brakes again. By going a constant slow speed just as the suv reached the car in front of them it would be moving again and it could continue at that slow speed without stopping.

How do these tips make a significant fuel savings?
We’ll physics tells us that it is easier to keep an object moving rather then move a stable object (momentum). Also by stayng at constant speeds the car has the least amount of work to do because its velocity stays consistent and the engine does not have to do the hardest task of accelerating the weight of the car up to speed or slowing that momentum down almost immediately afterward. Also in the light example when the car is in neutral there is no strain on the engine. Just a thought, pretty difficult to test but, if all cars inched along like this without stopping and all the cars slowly picked up speed wouldn’t the traffic jam dissapate…?

Neutralize your inefficiency……

As hinted to in the first example using neutral at key times can give your engine and wallet a break. I know many drivers that never use neutral where as I use it pretty much every time I drive anywhere. It doesn’t hurt that I drive a standard so neutral is a little bit easier to use although not by a very significant margin. Useful places to use neutral are on hills in town with low speed limits where it is easy to coast with the engine disengaged. Constant long small sloped downhill section are also good, you can get your car up to speed then use the momentum and the slope to keep your speed up. Also approaching and waiting at stop signs and lights are good times to use neutral.

Be aware that while in neutral you have a slower reaction time if accidents happen behind you or something happens where you need to accelerate. It doesn’t take a long time to put a vehicle in drive but be aware and be carefull. Also when using neutral at a stop light make sure you put it in drive before you hit the gas or your engine will make a sound telling you how dumb that was (I have only heard of this happening…….lol ).

Don’t Drive and Drive.

Vehicles have become such a part of the western world that they are often used far to often and for some counter productive purposes. Going down to the corner store for a bag of milk? Well why are you taking your car it will probably take longer to get there by car and be a lot more frustrating. Driving is very stressful and waking is very stress relieving so why not hike past the car through the neighborhood and right in the Store door. Walking you don’t have to worry about getting cut of, navigating busy streets, parking, or hitting anything you simply have to enjoy your peaceful journey. Other time when walking, biking, rollerblading, or skateboarding can be used instead of a car are getting mail, going to work, getting around, visiting friends or simply going to the park. Make it a family event going someplace nearby for dinner or a movie, save the time and hassle of loading everyone into the family car and enjoy yourself.

Of all tips this one could have the largest effect on your wallet, the environment and your health. Unnecessary car trips are a waste of resources and make up a large amount of current green house gasses. Considering that:

If everyone biked to work once a week that would reduce congestion and related air pollution by roughly 20%.
You can see just how big of a difference changing when you drive can effect your fuel consumption.
-Jeff Radecki

I probably missed a few things, Help me out by commenting below with your tips, arguments or ideas.