Almost all of the tips I offer during this first quarter are about saving energy in the home, but most of us know that our car-driving habits can be one of the worst contributors air pollution, global climate change, dependence on foreign oil, not to mention lost productivity. So, I thought it was necessary to devote one of the weeks to cars. And as with these earlier tips, they are low- to no-cost and fairly easy to accomplish.
We’ve all seen recommendations to bicycle or walk to work, carpool, or take public transportation. All are good things to think about and do. But that just doesn’t fit into many people’s lifestyle. So what else can we do besides buying a plug-in electric car (or a regular hybrid, or a diesel, or just a more fuel efficient car), which might not be within our means?
Recently I learned that for every 100 pounds you carry in your car, you lose one mile per gallon in gas efficiency. As we all probably carry too many unnecessary things around in our car most of the time, I thought that was one of the best motivators to cleaning out my car! (I actually believe it is ridiculous that every car is equipped with a spare tire to tote around. Honestly, how many times does that ever get used?! Re-Go Electric, a Minneapolis based company that converts hybrids to plug-in hybrids, removes the spare tire to make room for the extra large battery. Nobody has complained.)
Another easy thing to do is make sure there is enough air pressure in all of your tires, as that can cost you a few percentage points in fuel economy as well. (The owner’s manual will have the recommended tire pressure.)
And finally, for those of us who are hybrid drivers, we have already become aware of how much more gas we burn when we gun it out of a stop light, because the display shows your miles per gallon (mpg) at every moment. When you are coasting or braking, for example, your mpg goes to infinity (high), because you are traveling a distance but not consuming any gas. Conversely, when you go up a hill or try to beat the car next to you after the stoplight turns green, your mpg drops to less than 10. Bottom line? Becoming less of a maniac on the road is not only safer, it will save you on gas money.