In addition to tracking my fuel economy, I also track the time it takes
me to get home each day of the week. I've been doing it for the past
year and have found fairly predictable results. I may start dharing
that information as well, as it's sort of interesting.
Today I took out 2 pieces, and just one piece remains inside. So I
wonder, did I get 59 pieces, or 61? Or did someone take an odd number
when I was out of my cube? And if someone took an odd number of gum
pieces, what else has been taken from my cube without my knowledge?
I hope I don't get to the point of tracking my gum consumption. That
might just be overkill.
I took the minivan into work this morning. We rented a lawn aerator on
Friday and I returned it to the rental store today on my way into work.
I filled up the van with gas first, and that tank told me it got 18.6
mpg, but when I actually did the math, it turned out to be even worse,
at 17.93 miles per gallon. Granted, mostly in town miles, but still
it's pretty poor.
The trip computer now reads a bit over 25 mpg for my 34 mile trip to
work on the new tank. Likely it's a little worse than that.
I am sure happy I don't drive this van every day. It uses a LOT more
gas than the mighty Corolla.
First of all, this recent tank delivered 38.17 mpg, going 414 miles on
10.845 gallons of gas. Now to the awesome comparisons:
For the first ten tanks of each year:
2007- 101.099 gallons for 3638.3 miles, 35.99 mpg average
2008- 102.386 gallons for 3886.4 miles, 37.96 mpg average, about 5.5%
higher fuel economy
2007- $210.10 spent on gas, average of $2.07/gallon
2008- $300.88 spent on gas, average of $2.94/gallon, about a 42%
increase!
So my increased fuel economy is more than offset by the added fuel
expense.
I feel badly for those who drive big fast cars, trucks and SUVs. My
additional cost of gas works out to about $9.00 a tank, or about $9.00 a
week. I imagine in a car that gets 15-20 mpg it would be north of $20 a
week difference, which is a very noticeable pinch!
On the bright side, both yesterday and today my morning commute has been
much saner. This morning, it appeared that most cars were going between
65 and 70, rather than 70+ miles per hour.
As I drove to work today, I noticed fewer people passing me, and a
definite line of people like me in the slow lane going about 65 miles
per hour.
Of course, this was offset by a handful of people who used the other two
lanes to totally weave in and out of other cars to fly ahead of
everyone.
Still, this morning I noticed that it appeared some people, at least,
were indeed changing their driving habits to get more miles per gallon.
I also noticed that most of these vehicles were pickup trucks and SUVs,
and the cars that darted in and out of traffic were small 4-door sedans.
What made me unhappy was that it was a reprint of an article I read
online a couple months ago about a true hypermiler who drives unusually
and can achieve fuel economies of over 100 miles per gallon.
While I applaud that ability, I am concerned that the casual reader may
see that as too extreme to even be tried, and thus miss out on the
simple ways to improve fuel economy that are easy for everyone to do.
Not everyone wants to take an offramp at 50 miles per hour, and I don't
see the point in coasting around a parking lot just to avoid idling in a
stopped car; I mean, what's the point in getting 50 miles per gallon if
you're just coasting around a parking lot?
Likewise, I don't think it's wise to put yourself in physical danger by
driving significantly under or, in some cases, over the general speeds
of other cars in traffic. The fuel you personally save is more than
wasted by other traffic avoiding you by braking, swerving, and
accelerating ahead of you.
But things like keeping your tires pumped up, looking ahead at the
traffic in the distance, and driving with the proverbial egg between
your right foot and the gas pedal are easy ways to becoem a more
conscientious driver and more of a fuel saver.
I agree that using the brake is ultimately a waste of gasoline, but you
must balance your need to arrive at your destination with your desire to
save fuel. This balance point id different for everyone, but we all
must take other people into consideration as well. If you are going 55
miles per hour on the highway in rush hour, and the speed limit is
actually 65 and there's a line of cars formed behind you, the gas you
save is just being wasted by the bottleneck of cars as they brake to
slow to your speed and then accelerate hard to pass you.
So I believe in at least going the speed limit.
If that's too rough, look for a tractor trailer to safely draft behind--
not too close that you can't see around it, of course...
But I am encouraged that Readers Digest had this article. Hopefully it
will cause more people to think, and realize that they have the power to
make a small change in driving habits that will have a large effect on
fuel consumption.
All the "right side" pumps were willed except one, so I refueled at pump
#11 rather than pump #1 as I normally do.
Travelled 436.0 miles on 11.347 gallons, making for a respectable 38.42
miles per gallon. My low fuel light came on for good at 407.3 miles, so
I was able to go more than 28 miles after the light went on.
At $3.049 per gallon, this is the second highest cost per gallon of gas
I have ever paid for the Mighty Corolla. I paid $3.109 per gallon one
time last May. So far, the average price of gas in 2008 is about 40
cents more per gallon than the 2007 annual average.
I hope that increasing gas prices will cause more people to drive with
more sanity and perception. If you look ahead, you can coast to slow
down rather than slam on the brakes and waste all your momentum.
It's not too hard to slightly modify your driving habits, but see a
noticeable increase in your fuel economy.
I showed that in 2007, gas prices were higher, but my fuel economy
increased enough to pretty much exactly offset the additional cost per
gallon. It looks like 2008 will not be as fortuitous of a year for me,
but I predict that many other people can see this effect by accelerating
more gently, coasting more often on highways, and generally being more
alert of traffic conditions around them this year.
