Why Hybrids? – Part 3 – Learning to Drive
Drive Green - Photo by Caleb
Today we are taking a hiatus from the diesel discussions to talk about driving style. You may be asking yourself how driving style has anything to do with diesels, hybrids, mileage, and being “green”. It has to do with all of those. Believe it or not, not all cars were created equal. I’m not talking about horse power or sport suspensions or even about flashy body kits. I’m talking about regenerative brakes, manual transmissions, and torque power bands. I don’t want to get to ahead of myself so let’s dive in.
The Toyota Prius is the staple for hybrid cars. The car that screams I’m ECO! It’s got the latest regenerative braking that makes electricity when you brake which charges the battery for the use of the electric motor to use. This is a great idea and a great way to use wasted energy. Now think about that last statement, wasted energy. For other vehicles that do not have regenerative braking the braking is only wasted energy. We all know the basics of physics: it takes energy to move an object. Our object is the car and our energy source is our engine. Very simple so keep this in mind.
Unfortunately most cars do not have regenerative braking nor could they embrace its usage. There are also a couple ways of stopping a car that are great alternatives that can use the energy instead of wasting it in the brakes that are very simple to execute. The way that the majority of the population stops is by holding the gas on until the last second then they apply the brakes. This leaves the bare minimum braking distance to stop comfortably. This type of stopping wastes a lot of the energy that is built up to accelerating or maintaining your speed and puts it into the brakes which makes your brakes wear down. The more friendly, cheaper, eco, and better-for- your-car way of stopping is to let your car coast up to the stop sign or stop light. It’s easy! If you see a yellow or red light ahead, start coasting by letting off the accelerator. You’ll be amazed at how long your car keeps its speed up just by coasting. When your car is coasting it is resting at idle which uses much less gas than when you are trying to maintain a speed. Do the same with turns which require slowing down and anytime you have to stop. It’s a very simple way to easily increase your gas mileage and reduce wear and tear on your engine and your brakes. It’s a win, win, win situation.
Toyota Prius Parking - Photo by Caleb Hammel
A problem with this type of braking is if you have a manual transmission car. When you let off the accelerator you are now engine braking which is the third type of braking. When you are engine braking you are using ZERO gas. None, nada, zilch. The fuel injectors turn off and you are getting free miles on your gas. This will also slow you down a lot faster than coasting. The new Hybrids actually have an engine braking mechanism built into their automatic transmissions, unfortunately many Hybrid owners don’t use this feature. I intentionally didn’t say anything about putting your manual transmission car in neutral. This is because in some states it is illegal to coast your car while in neutral and the law states you must have your car in a gear at all times. Check your local and state laws. Since regular gas and diesel engine vehicles don’t have regenerative braking they benefit the most from the last two techniques.
I would also just like to reiterate that there is no reason to wait till the last second to brake. It’s the most wasteful thing you can do and a majority of the population does it. Everybody says they want to be eco and get better gas mileage but they don’t really, otherwise they’d learn how to optimize their driving style to not waste gas. Braking at the last second does not get you closer to your destination any faster, it just gets you stopped behind the guy in front of you faster so you can wait longer at a light. Another great reason to not brake at the last second is to keep your speed up. If you cruise while the light is red, and then it turns green while you are still doing 30mph you have effectively saved the gas it would have taken you to accelerate from zero to 30mph. Most of your gas is used accelerating, not while maintaining a speed.
Techniques like these have been named Hyper Miler techniques and do take some thought to do while driving. Driving should never be a mindless activity, but it is treated as such which is one of the reasons we have so many accidents. I promote enhancing driving styles because it’s an easy and effective way to improve your gas mileage, be eco, and not having to get rid of your old car and buy a new one. You can save money, make driving more pleasurable, exciting, and challenging, and you can save the Earth all in one simple act. Practicing some of these techniques you can get a regular car up to Prius mileage and on diesels you can get mileage near the 60mpg mark in a full size sedan.
Fuelly Dashboard - Photo by Caleb Hammel
Another great technique to get better gas mileage is changing the way many people accelerate. I know everybody is always in a hurry to get where they are going. But, simple planning, such as leaving your house five minutes earlier, will give you the time to not panic and just take your time to get safely to work, school, or the store. Don’t rev out your car, give it a stable amount of gas and steadily accelerate up to the speed limit. Accelerating a tad slower than what many people do can get you higher mileage too. Now I’m not telling you to accelerate like a 90 year old person or anything. If you accelerate too slowly, that can actually do the opposite and use more gas since you are constantly accelerating and you aren’t in your highest gear, which brings me to my next point.
For better mileage always try to cruise in your highest gear, meaning 5th or 6th gear depending on your car. This is your most efficient gear. Cruising around at 25mph in 3rd isn’t going to get you great gas mileage. Slower is not always better unless you are on a highway. When cruising at higher speeds try to stay near where your torque reaches its max. This is about where your car is at max efficiency. Most manufacturers make this around 55mph in your highest gear.
A last tactic I would like to share is planning your route and the time you leave. Sometimes the shortest route is not the best for mileage figures or for the environment. If you have to stop many times or you get held up in high traffic for a long time then you are wasting gas, polluting the Earth, and wasting your own money and time. By simply planning your routes on back roads, learning the less used streets, and heading out during non-peak hours you can save the Earth and your pocket book.
Practicing the above driving techniques can lead to better gas mileage as well as safer driving habits. If you would like additional information on becoming a hyper miler then take a look at the links below. Some of the links show tips like Ecomodder and the CleanMPG sites while ones like the Forums will allow you to talk to other that are trying to learn more about hypermiling and Fuelly will help you track your progression of fuel ups with graphs and tables.
Related Posts
Why Hybrids? – Part 1 – The Big Rigs
Why Hybrids? – Part 2 – Alternative Fuels
Why Hybrids? – Part 3 – Learning to Drive
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