According to the latest report from the American Automobile Association, the national median price for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.88. That’s an increase of over 27% over the last twelve months! Remembering about $1.00 worth of gas won’t push the price back, but there are plenty of things you can do to stretch each gallon of gas a little further. Here are some easy tips you can use right away…
1. Which is more difficult: running wind sprints or casually walking from one side of the gym to the other? You can practically double your gas mileage simply by changing the way you accelerate and brake. Try to accelerate smoothly and coast to a stop. Even better, try to reduce how often you have to accelerate and stop; You’ll burn less gas by taking a slightly longer route that doesn’t require you to constantly speed up and slow down.
2. What is more difficult: sitting on a chair or jogging on the spot? Modern cars start very efficiently and research has shown that 30 seconds is a reasonable “break-even” estimate for assessing the cost of idling (think train crossings or cars). compared to turning off the engine and starting it again when you’re ready to move.
3. If you have ever run on a treadmill, you know that it is much harder to run at 7 MPH than it is at 5 MPH. A typical car will burn 25% more gas at 70 MPH than it does at 50 MPH. Aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed. For those of you (like me!) who didn’t major in physics, if you double your speed from 30 MPH to 60 MPH, it takes eight times the power to overcome air resistance.
4. Okay, now that you’re driving at a reasonable speed, what else can you do to help your car glide through the air with less effort? Minimize fuel-wasting drag on your vehicle. Roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning any time you go over 30 MPH because the strain of running the air conditioning is less than the added drag of having the windows open. While you’re at it, check out all the other things blowing in the wind. Bike racks, roof racks, and even that cute little flag waving on top of your antennas all contribute.
5. Going back to my treadmill analogy, how much harder do you think it will be to run with a 50-pound backpack? After air resistance, rolling resistance is the next biggest gas thief in your car. Give your car a break by removing all the unnecessary weight it’s hauling. Next, keep an eye on your car shoes. Properly inflated tires will significantly reduce the energy required to roll down the road. Instead of checking your tire pressure every morning (who has time for that?), consider filling your tires with nitrogen. It usually costs around $20 and because nitrogen molecules are so much larger than air, the nitrogen won’t seep out as fast. We have gone six months without filling the tires since we switched to nitro.
You don’t have to be a physicist or engineer to know how to improve gas mileage; you just have to think like a car. Picture your car on a treadmill and try to imagine all the ways you can keep yourself from getting out of breath. Your car and your wallet will thank you!