Hypermiling: When you're too cheap to buy a hybrid

If you drive a car, you'll have noticed a "slight increase" in the price of gasoline in the past few months. Fortunately for me, I try to minimize my driving to save on gas. Also my car is apparently the "most fuel efficient in its class" but that's not saying much. The other cars in its class are lead weights with sliding doors.

If you want real fuel efficiency, you'll want to look at a hybrid vehicle. I did consider the Toyota Prius, but there was a long waiting list and a steep price tag. The hybrid and electric vehicles are well positioned to take over the car market in the coming years... but for the moment, they are only for the early adopters.

If you can't get real fuel efficiency, you can fake it. Hypermiling is being spoken of in whispers by drivers in North America. Originally, there was a lot of media coverage about some of the more extreme practices, but if you look at the basic principles, they make a lot of sense. On a fundamental level, hypermiling means minimizing your use of the gas pedal and the brake. The more you press on the gas pedal, the more precious gas is being wasted away. The more you press on the brake, the more precious momentum is being wasted away. How does this affect your driving?

• Accelerate gradually. Sudden acceleration is inefficient.
• Maximize coasting. It's gas-free momentum.
• Minimize breaking. Don't follow too close, and cut the gas if you see a red light in front of you.
• Avoid acceleration/braking patterns in favour of more consistent momentum.
• Try intermittent tapping on the gas to preserve momentum, instead of adding constant gas.
  
• Lighten the load in your car, by ditching unnecessary cargo.
• Schedule your drives during non-peak hours and give yourself plenty of time.

That's hypermiling in a nutshell. For a more detailed description, visit this website. I've started trying this out sporadically. Last week I was slowly coasting towards a red light when the guy behind me got frustrated, and zipped around me only to slam on his brakes and stop his car a metre past the white line. I gave him the Wayne's World thumbs up from his rear-view mirror. Seriously though, being stuck behind a hypermiling can be a pain, which is why I only do this when I'm not in the passing lane.

Starting today, I'm going to make hypermiling a consistent practice. I'm keeping a logbook (it's a habit from my Autoshare membership) to keep track of my mileage. We'll see how effective hypermiling really is. On a side note, another way to save on gas is to be aware of future gas price, so Dan McTeague's "Tomorrow's gas price, today" site is indispensible.