Are you hypermiling?
I hadn't heard the term "hypermiler" for many years, but a reader sent me a NY Times article about it!
Hypermilers are people who go to great lengths to maximize their gas mileage, and this practice always brings in some new followers when gas prices rise.
Sooo, it makes sense that this is trending again. At least once a week, I see a headline about the price of oil, due to the ongoing conflict with Iran, and the news is always that prices are rising.
Hypermilers vary in their level of dedication; some do things like riding on the white painted stripes on the road, since friction is less there as compared to the pavement.
Many take out any extra cargo to lighten the car, and some even remove interior parts of their cars to lighten the car (like the door liners!)
Some don't use their air conditioning, and that is a step too far for me. I love my air conditioning, and I will happily pay for whatever gas it uses.
I am not a diehard hypermiler, but since I approach all of life with an eye to conserve, I do routinely participate in some hypermiling behavior.
I try to coast instead of braking
Braking does not use gas, to be clear.
But if you power up to a stoplight and then slam on the brakes, you have used unnecessary gas to get to the stoplight (and you have put more wear and tear on your brakes than necessary).
So, I generally try to anticipate where traffic will stop, and I opt to mostly coast to a stop.
Sometimes this wins me an extra bonus: if the stoplight turns green as I'm coasting up to the light, I don't even have to stop all the way, which means my post-light acceleration uses less gas. 😉
I keep my tires inflated
Soft tires offer more resistance, which uses more gas, while properly inflated tires roll more easily on the road.
I don't warm up my car
I know in very cold climates, it is actually necessary to do some extra gymnastics to get a car ready to drive. But in the moderate climate where I live, I have read that it is not necessary and is just a waste of fuel.
(AAA says you only need to let it run for the amount of time it takes you to buckle your seatbelt.)
I do not drive aggressively
Aggressive driving usually involves a lot of acceleration and braking, and that is not a hypermiler's dream. 😉
Driving at a steady speed is much more fuel-efficient.
I don't speed
Going 85 miles an hour on the highway is not a good idea safety-wise, and it also uses more gas. Most cars start to lose fuel efficiency above 50-55 mph (although AAA puts the number at 60 mph).
This practice also prevents speeding tickets; one speeding ticket would quickly erase hypermiling gains!
I drive a hybrid car
I accidentally did this at a good time; I bought my hybrid Civic last December, before gas prices were so high.
Generally, the break-even spot for buying a hybrid or an electric car takes forever to reach, and such is probably the case with my Civic. But...I did not buy it to save on gas. I bought it because it's my dream car!
And since my dream car happens to be a hybrid, it is at least reducing my gas bill; I average 45 miles per gallon, even though most of my miles are city miles.
Long story short: it usually doesn't make financial sense to go buy a new car just to save on gas. But if you are going to be buying a car anyway, it's smart to consider a hybrid.
I don't drive so this is a moot point right now, but when I learn to drive, I will probably take a similar approach:)
Speaking metaphorically, I think I take this approach to life as well! I view things as a marathon rather than a race and do tasks 'steadily'.
Sophie, you probably do more for the planet by not driving and taking public transport than by driving--which is what I tell JASNA BFF, who's a Manhattanite born and bred and never learned to drive. Of course, I also tease her that because she travels by air and I don't, I may win a few points back that way. 😛
I do travel by air relatively frequently, but I guess it's better than doing so and also driving! I remember going on a school trip to France when I was eleven and we took the ferry!
I have switched from flying to trains. I live in Estonia where we don’t have very good train connections to Europe. I travel to Brussels for work about once a year and pass through Denmark on the way. I love night trains for traveling if possible
I misread the title as “hyper smiling” so I smiled and started reading…and then got confused.
Hope this makes you laugh too!
I love the idea of hypersmiling, Annmarie!
As in, stretching out how long you can smile throughout the day, seeing if it lifts others and your own spirits. Saving energy that might be depleted if we stopped smiling.
I think friendly Kristen might be a hyper smiler?! ☺️
Yes to all of these but also batching errands. If I have more than a couple of things to do I will do that. Also use public transportation. I live in the Bay area so if I have a trip to go into San Francisco or Oakland then I will use our train system. We also use public transportation when we are away on trips instead of a rental car.
Valencia,
I envy you your public transportation! It is practically non-existent where I live. We do use public transportation when travelling to places that have it.
Years ago, I went on a date with a guy. He picked me up in his car and drove to the restaurant. He kept the windows rolled up and the AC turned off. It was so hot! I asked if we could turn the air on or roll down the windows. He said no, he was trying to save on gas and the AC used too much fuel and having the windows rolled down produced too much drag, which also reduced fuel efficiency. I was 19 and was raised not to contradict men, so I didn’t say anything more. We arrived soaked in sweat and then shivered through dinner in the restaurant’s aggressive AC. I never went on another date with him because I couldn’t imagine ending up with someone that miserly.
Glad there wasn’t a second date- this was a premonition of a future life with him as he did not care about your comfort!
So glad you kicked that guy to the curb. He certainly didn't deserve you.
That guy probably wonders to this day why he's still single. 🙂
I also coast to a stop at red lights when I can. I don't know too much about hypermiling but I try to time it so I don't have to stop all the way and can coast until it turns green.
My beloved 1989 Buick can't use gas containing ethanol (degrades O rings and similar components), so I'm used to being gouged at the pump. That said, I batch errands, and my car is the road trip car because it gets better mileage than my husband's truck (27 to 17 highway). I use cruise control whenever possible to avoid speeding and likewise coast to stops. Insurance is laughably cheap, as are parts, and I basically drive a roll cage (3,000 lbs of steel), so I still consider my loyal steed a win overall.
The best thing for our gas budget, though, is my husband switching to a local job in March. The timing was uncanny, saves him two hours a day commuting, and untold gas and wear on both our vehicles. My beautiful Buick will have its first oil change since April next week!
I love my combo of plug-in hybrid and home solar panels, even though it will be years before either is cost-effective. Like you, I try to avoid abrupt breaking and accelerating and very fast driving. And I try to keep the car charged and to avoid other unnecessary electricity use at home so that as much of my driving as possible is actually powered by my solar panels.
I do all the things you do, though I do not have a hybrid (but have a Honda). My car has an “eco mode” button that saves some gas- the pickup is only slightly less powerful, but fine by me. On the highway I challenge myself to get close to 40 mph! I’m also better about grouping errands/tasks.
I’d like to have a chat with the people who intentionally drive on the white line. That just seems ridiculous and unsafe.
I hope on the Highway you try to get 40 mpg and not 40 mph. You may not make any Highway friends at 40 mph. 😉
As our kids were learning to drive we used an analogy regarding accelerating and braking efficiently. [This is specifically for traditional gas vehicles.] Gradually pressing the gas pedal is like gently squeezing toothpaste out of a tube into your toothbrush. Toothpaste is necessary, but you don't want to squeeze out more than you need at a given time. Stomping on the gas pedal makes a big blob of toothpaste come out all at once. Braking is like washing away the toothpaste without even using it (but clearly necessary at times!); so, squeezing it out only to immediately wash it away is wasteful. For best gas mileage, minimize both the squeezed out toothpaste (gas pedal) and the washing away (braking) while keeping in mind safety and necessity. It's a kinda weird image, but all three of our kidult drivers still joke about it, especially if someone slams on the gas or brakes. "Globs of toothpaste", or "such a shame to waste all that good toothpaste", lol.
I love this analogy! I have two children who are drivers already, and two more to teach. I look forward to being able to use this as a teaching point. I can almost hear my older kids saying that it is a good analogy & commenting to their younger siblings that mom learned that after their time. My youngest would add, "from Chiquita's mom's blog!" lol
Hahaha at Chiquita's mom's blog!
Like Jen, I totally love this analogy! I don't have kids, but I love your kidults' comments. I try to "know" the light cycles in the neighborhoods near me so I can actually anticipate when some of them will change and coast appropriately, like Kristen does. And I do try to drive gently and not too far over the speed limit, which helps, too.
I don't hypermile. The idea of riding on the white line to reduce friction sounds crazy to me, to be honest! (and very unsafe if said line is the one dividing the road from on-coming traffic)
The one thing I do is stick to speed limits on the highway and just a little over on side roads. Not to save gas, but to be safe and not get speeding tickets. I used to drive like a maniac when I was a new drive (not proud of it!), 30 years ago, and lost my permit for speeding (only had 4 demerits points back then, so 2 speeding tickets did the trick), this was so dumb..... Live and learn! (and growing up sure helps!)
Batching errands, always and forever. Determining the best circular route to get from home to wherever and back home again, which is challenging until winter because of road construction. Also I'm a new hybrid owner -- the car gets about 47 miles to a charge, and I'm determined to go out and back with miles still available. I'm also incredibly (and vocally) proud of not having bought gasoline since [fill in the date], expecially since it went to$4.59/gallon yesterday.
I think the main things I do to conserve gas are batching errands and using public transit instead of driving. I am mindful about braking gently. I never exceed the speed limit and tend to happily chug along in the slow lane. Starting out early saves gas and sanity because you don't push it to save time. I'm always an earlybird.
That last point is such a good one. Leaving too little time to get somewhere can result in all kinds of risky behavior if you run into traffic trouble. The sanity part is most important when driving, too.
Erika, I completely agree!
My Subaru has an alleged energy saving function that turns off the engine if you are stopped for more than a few seconds. A little counter keeps track of the gas you save. It’s almost nothing!!!! There is a counter that keeps track of gallon saved. The first year I had the car it saved less than a gallon of gas. I am not a heavy driver, but still….
I frequently turn it off because for example, if you are making a left turn in heavy traffic, it will turn off the car and then it takes a beat for it to start again when you accelerate. I find that mildly terrifying.
I turn that "feature" off in my car too. The first time it happened I was mildy terrified, as you say-I thought my newish car had died on me in heavy traffic at a stoplight! I am glad to know that it doesn't really save that much gas.
Yes! I have the same “feature” and I turn it off when I turn on my car.
Only thing I don’t love about my Crosstrek. 💜
I've been driving more back roads recently and have noticed that my gas milage has gone up. A few years ago I discovered that not using cruise control also increased my MPG - which I find a little interesting. Finally, I try to group all my errands and appointments into one day, if I can, so there's less coming and going.
Yesterday, my brain was doom spiraling about gas so I googled small EVs - I was looking for something between an actual EV and an e-bike. I had some absolutely delighted giggles at the possibilities. If worst comes to worst and I need to rely on my solar to charge a vehicle that doubles my commute time, I'll have a hard time choosing which one to buy 🤣🤣
I find that leaving a suitable safety distance between me and the next car (on the highway, time 1 second of distance for every 10 mph you are traveling) saves a HUGE amount of gas because I'm not constantly slamming on the brakes, and then accelerating again, to remain in the flow of traffic. This works doubly well on secondary roads, when I simply take my foot off the gas and allow the car to coast up to a stoplight, slowing but not stopping if possible, because it's the first 15mph of mileage which "costs" the most in regards to energy consumption when getting the mass of the car moving. The last thing I do is slip the car out of gear into neutral when going down the big hill off the highway down to my house ... that's 2.3 miles of free coasting to the stop sign when you disengage the drag of the gearbox ... best in a manual transmission, but it also works in an automatic as long as you don't try to ram it back into gear.
I used to drive like I was auditioning to be Dale Jr.'s backup until I read a book about slow living. In the chapter about slow driving, the author mentioned that speeding in town (read: with traffic lights) saves about 7 seconds off a commute. Somehow that nugget of information changed my life immediately. An unexpected benefit of driving in a saner way is I'm so much less perturbed. Cut me off? No worries, I wasn't on someone's bumper. Tailgating? Please go around, I'm not offended. I do live for catching up with them at stoplights though.
Joanna, "auditioning to be Dale Jr.'s backup" = LOL!
I use some of the techniques but I don't hypermile per se. I did more when I owned a stick shift as there are some tricks that you can't do with an automatic, and some tricks that modern cars won't let you do, such as deadsticking. So maybe hypermiling light?
I do very little driving, overall. Work, groceries, library. I try to combine errands as much as possible, but that's about it. I live close to everything I need to access. My Subaru gets very good mileage and has a feature that pauses the engine when you make frequent stops due to traffic. I am never in a rush driving so you won't catch me speeding. And A/C is a necessity here, plus wind can create drag resistance which affects fuel useage.
What do you have to do to protect your Hybrids battery life? Aren’t they thousands to replace
Okay, I looked it up. Said to break rather than coast as it sends the energy back into battery. Said to drive 20-30 minutes in a row at least once a week.
I drive an electric car (this is our second) & we try to be thoughtful about driving & usage to maximize miles. We also give consideration to charging as inexpensively as possible, as charging can also be expensive. I get four hours of free (slow) charging at my office, which basically offsets the power required to drive to/from, with maybe a small amount of extra. DH gets 3 hours of fast charging for $5 at his office. Charging at home is the most expensive option for us. We don't charge at a fast top up station or anything like that - I think we've had to do it one time last year.
We also tend to discuss who has the furthest to drive on any given day, and that person drives the electric car, to save on gas, as our other cars require gas, which as everyone knows, is extremely expensive.
We coast, mind our tire pressure and the speed limits, and batch our errands. AC is used sensibly (a few degrees below outside temperature to avoid cold shocks/heat shocks). I prefer running errands by bicycle, so we use the car when my husband does shopping or if we go together.
We make sure to have our AC serviced annually, because of my asthma. I suffer more from unclean filters than no AC (and that goes for our home AC as well).
I tend toward "drive it like it's an egg" style of motoring and plan routes to avoid as many left turns as possible. I learned to drive during the original oil crisis and areanging stops to be fuel effecient is ingrained in me. And I stick to under the speed limit to give myself an extra few seconds of reaction time if needed.
I'm a hypersmiler! I have a wheelchair accessible Honda Odyssey, it gets great gas mileage, even though it has much hydraulic modification. However, my huge farm diesel truck gets 24 - 27 pretty good!
I'm an easy braker, which in turn saves brakes!
I hyper smiled because I bought my supply of diesel last December, right now equals a $5/gal savings.
I don't leave the farm unless I have to. I only use my '20 diesel Kubota because it sips fuel. I use my Honda 4 wheeler for every chore with it's trailer and accessories, that is most of my work. And human powered wheel barrows! No gym membership, exhaustive sleep, it's all good.
I am currently putting winter wood in the wood shed, using the Honda instead of the tractor, that is hypersmiling. However, the fuel I use is ethanol free and about $7.50/gal.
We batch errands between 3 families. I grocery shop once/month in one of the big towns 50 miles away.
this is a bit silly, because it's about saving on gas in cars you drive, BUT BUT having only 1 vehicle that uses gas is a big saving. Yes, obviously, insurance etc, but you tend to maximise the efficiency of whatever you are doing when out in that car... because otherwise it's annoying and time wasting! So instead of me going to get groceries and maybe visit the pharmacy, and husband doing a dump run or fetching a child from somewhere, unless the times really are way off, we time it to do what needs to be done in that 1 journey. Of course, efficiency can be maximised always, regardless of how many cars you have, but over time, it's definitely reduced unnecessary trips, and made us very much more disciplined at maximising efficiency and thus cutting costs.
My husband and I are also very proud of being a "one-car family". I'd love it if we could start a trend!
There was a time in college when I had to plug my car in overnight because it would get so cold that the engine block could freeze! Thankfully we have a nice garage now so it's not an issue but I hadn't thought of that in years!
Riding the white line is a terrible idea - I have a new driver and if he did that on his driving test he would likely not pass. No hypermiling but we do use common sense: batch errands, don't slam on the gas when the light turns green, no speeding, keep up on car maintenance.
I wish there were more hypermilers near me! When I drive the speed limit down narrow country roads, I often encounter pickup trucks that aggressively drive a few inches from my back bumper and then dramatically pass me when they get the chance. I hate those guys!
I try to be efficient with my errands so I spend as little time driving as possible.
when I first lloked at this I th ought it said hypersmiler. how silly of me. couldn't imagine what that meant.
Well, Kristen does seem to have a personality that smiles a lot, so I guess she's a hypersmiler too. 😁
My husband is an engineer with one of the Big Three, and for the last 20ish years his area of specialty has been fuel economy. Gas, diesel , hybrid and electric, he's developed it to hit the ever changing targets and government regulations. So, yes, in a way I guess I'm a "hypermiler" too because for years I've done the coasting vs braking, optimum speed, proper tire inflation, etc. that affects your fuel efficiency. None of the crazy taking the car apart stuff though!
If you’re driving a hybrid, you p probably also have regenerative braking, where energy from breaking is captured to use to help later acceleration!
Hubby and I have a 2026 hybrid Honda CRV. It might get 40 miles to the gallon?
Huby is bit of an agressive driver and uses the speed control a lot. I usually drive my old Honda CRV which is 16 yrs old with 87000 miles on ir.
Hypermiling to me is coasting down the big hills in our area. I pull out of my driveway and as our house is at the top of the hill I just coast down not doing over 30 mph. I batch as many errands as I can as I live in a small town. NJ has a LOT of aggressive drivers so I just do me and they can pass me. Except for today when a tractor trailer just decided to stop in the slow lane of a 6 lane highway. WTH? Fortunately I didn't hit the car in front of me.
I do not hypermile - I didn't even know this is a "thing". Lol! I'm right there with you about AC - in hot, humid SW Ohio, it is a necessity for me. I do some of the same things you do - coasting when anticipating a stop, for example. I did just get a new car, as we gave our 2018 Prius to our son, who just got his license. ( I do realize my privilege, and his, in being able to give him this car, which has been paid off for several years. My replacement has been planned for as well). We did buy a new Prius hybrid, but opted not to get the electric charger attachment, as it did not make economic sense. Usually we buy used, but DH did some research (as one does), and could not find a lowish-mileage hybrid car at a reasonable price. DH calls it my pre-retirement gift. 🙂 Only 3.5 more months (squeeee!!).
My parents died in the late 1990s and I inherited their Chevy Astro mini van. My hypermiling (new word to me!) was to take out the removable extra back seat and put it in storage. It was super heavy so not having it in the vehicle meant a lot less gasoline used, plus I could haul around more items.
Late to the party as usual, but regards to all the "hypersmilers" in the Commentariat who have offered such good advice. I do most of the things others have mentioned, and don't do some of the loonier ones, such as riding on the white line or doing without AC during a hot summer.
And I used to drive a hybrid--but as longer-term readers may recall, I wrecked the Prius back in November 2020. (This accident was in part due to acute sleep deprivation during the period DH was still living at home with Alzheimer's. I've since read that driving while sleep-deprived is almost as bad as DUI.) So good old gas-fueled Nellybelle (DH's 2010 Honda Element) and I do the best we can.
I'd add only that while I wouldn't deliberately drive 20 miles out of my way to get a lower gas price, I was happy to take advantage of a lower price on Sunday when I had to drive to the other side of the county for my emergency eye appointment. (And before anyone worries, I *could* see well enough to drive.) This station is near our only local Costco, and I'm guessing that its price was so low because it was trying to compete with Costco's. So if you're out and about anyway and see an unusually low price, take advantage of it.
Also, there's an app called Spoke that will come up with the best route for you, if you're driving (or walking or biking) a bunch of errands. Obviously, if you know that stopping at (let's say) the pharmacy, then the grocery store, and then the post office, you don't need this. I use it most often when I have more than one Buy Nothing pick up to make.
I had not heard the term, hypermiling! Yet, I do most of those things. I tend to coast, use cruise control, and not drive aggressively. My Dad you to say whenever he or someone else did a fast acceleration … “there goes a quarter.” Given the cost of gas last century, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t accurate; however, on the rare occasions when I need to “punch it,” I always comment to myself, “there goes a quarter!” What I notice most is better gas mileage when I drive because of my habits.
When I bought my car in 2018, my husband talked me out of the hybrid I wanted because it takes so long to break even. This despite the fact that at the time I was driving an 18 year old car (still being driven by our daughter now)!!! I would definitely meet and exceed that break even point.
I caved and bought a straight gasoline car, although with great mileage-on the freeway, I've gotten as much as 49 mpg!!! In town, where I do most of my driving, I get about 28 - 30 mpg. And I have a very short commute. I buy gas maybe once a month.
So when it was time for my husband to get a new car last year, he got . . . a hybrid. Used, but still. Grrrr.
My initial thought was that hypermiling means driving a lot of miles… unfortunately that is my reality right now! We have a large SUV that is horrible on gas, although we make use of its 8-passenger capacity quite often, and we paid cash for it over 6 years ago, so I have to suck up the horror at the pump for now til it bites the dust. I do hope our next vehicle is a hybrid - there are so many options now that weren’t available last time we were car shopping.
I do try to be sensible about grouping errands, coasting towards red lights, avoiding hard accelerations and decelerations, etc, but I don’t know how much of a difference it makes.
LOL, we're the opposite of you. We just upgraded our 2012 RV to a 2021 model from the same manufacturer. We were looking to switch to gas, but this one was a cream puff, so we bought another diesel, sigh. Since then, diesel prices have begin to exceed $9.00 per gallon in our state. We're now actively looking for an EV to kind of even things out. Why is everything so complicated? FYI - I'm thinking mostly about healthcare, especially trying to figure out which Medicare program is the best value. Egads!
So I just put gas in my 2007 4Runner this morning at Costco. $5.59 per gallon. I put 15 gallons in (3/4 tank) and that should last me 3 weeks of commuting to work. It was 105 one day last week, so I was using AC. This week it’s about 79/80 so I’m fine without AC. Comfort was more important than $!
My form of “hypermiling” is that I don’t put very many miles on my car. It’s just over 5 years old & just reached 20,000 miles. So, I don’t go through any great lengths to save gas while driving but by driving it very little, I save lots of gas.
I lock my car into cruise control wherever and whenever I can. I keep it at 1 mph below the speed limit to avoid speeding tickets...never had one and plan on keeping it that way...plus all the braking and subsequent accelerating that comes with driving on highways uses up more gas. I batch errands too.
Had never heard of the term "hypermiling" but yes, I definitely do this! I try to drive at a steady speed, limit my use of A/C, unload heavy items from my car (I sometimes buy really heavy bags of cat litter) right away, and try to limit my heavy use of brakes and coast instead when possible. It's interesting learning more about this!
My husband and I rented a car in England years ago, and while the rep was showing us a few tips for Americans, my husband cranked the car and let it run. We continued to talk a minute or so until the British guy got visibly agitated and said, "you aren't going to just let it run are you?!" It wasn't until that point that I had ever noticed how often we let the car sit and idle before we drive away. Ever since then I have not cranked the car until after I am belted, Google maps are arranged, and I am ready to go. That way I don't crank until the last second. I had no idea there was a term for it!