Hypermiling – A Passion? An Obsession? The Wave of the Future?

Hypermiling is alive and well, despite some bad press generated over the past few years by overenthusiastic practitioners who took extreme and unsafe driving techniques to the max in their pursuit of ever higher miles per gallon records.

Notwithstanding, there is growing interest in all the ways hypermiling can be implemented to boost automotive fuel economy and reduce green house gas.

What is hypermiling?

Wikipedia defines it as: The act of driving using techniques that maximize fuel economy. Those who practice these techniques are referred to as "hypermilers."

But the real definition of hypermiling is being forged on the street – by whiz kid college students, as well as ordinary, middle-aged, frugal-in-the-extreme drivers.

Just this week (March 29, 2010), Laval University students, from Quebec City, Canada, took the grand prize at Shell’s annual Eco-Marathon, in Houston, TX, with a prototype vehicle they designed that squeezed 2,487 MPG out of a combustion engine-powered car. This was the second year in a row that students from the school took home the grand prize in Shell’s annual Eco-Marathon Americas — last year Laval set a 2,757.1 MPG record.

To read more, visit: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/29/university-students-build-2487-mpg-hypermiling-supercar/

Shell Eco-marathon Europe, which will be held May 6-7, 2010, will host more than 200 teams from a total of 24 countries. The challenge is simple: to design, build and drive the most fuel-efficient vehicle. The goal is not to break speed records or be the first to cross the finish line but to consume as little fuel as possible over a set distance.

To learn more, visit: http://www.shell.com/home/content/ecomarathon/europe/

But, most hypermilers aren’t getting quite that many miles per gallon. Still the numbers are impressive. The ordinary man or woman in the street hypermilers are getting close to 80 miles per gallon in today’s conventional cars. It’s not done with smoke and mirrors. They do it by using a potpourri of special driving techniques. Here are just a few of them:

1. Use a Digital mileage gauge: This device hooks into the vehicle's computer and gives instant feedback on fuel consumption, allowing drivers to see what practices burn excess fuel. It costs about $150.

2. Inflate Your Tires: Filling tires to the recommended or maximum pressure can have a big impact on fuel economy. While there is less friction in a highly pressurized tire, it also can make the ride bumpier.

3. Keep Speed Down: Varying speeds can be ideal for gas mileage, but driving more than 60 mph always decreases fuel economy substantially. Every 5 mph over 60 mph reduces fuel economy by the equivalent of 30 cents per gallon.

4. Minimize Weight: Keep the car as light as possible. Every 100 pounds off the vehicle can increase fuel economy by 1 percent to 2 percent.

5. Lay off Gas and Brake Pedals: Only use the pedals when absolutely necessary, which means keeping an eye on the road ahead and planning your drives accordingly. Don’t accelerate toward a stop sign. Coming to a complete stop nets 0 miles per gallon, so setting a pace in a traffic crunch and timing green lights can go a long way toward helping gas mileage.

Your driving style has enormous impact, and, in fact, hypermiling is an attempt to control that style to maximize mileage.

You can hear what the real aficionados of hypermiling are taking about if you join CleanMPG.com and visit its forum, http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/ run by hypermiling Guru Wayne Gerdes.

And if you’d like to spread the word about hypermiling as you drive, you can get a bumper sticker at: http://www.cafepress.com/hypermiling

You can see some informative videos at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/08/hypermiling-tips-videos.php

And, for more information on hypermiling, visit these sites:

http://www.hypermiling.com/car-mpg.html

http://www.whatgas.com/fuel/hypermiling.aspx