Lesson 2: An Introduction to ecomiling
You probably know that your car has two fuel economy ratings, one for the city and one for the highway. You probably also know that your car gets better mileage on the highway because you don’t need to stop, idle and go at traffic lights. What may not have occurred to you during your regular commute, though, is that by thoughtfully managing your behaviour in city traffic you can easily improve your city mileage by 15% and possibly by as much as 30%. Welcome to ecomiling. Even if most of your driving is done on the highway, when it’s not gridlocked, applying ecomiling techniques can still yield markedly improved fuel efficiency and substantial money savings.
It doesn’t matter whether you drive an economical vehicle like a scooter or a gigantic SUV, it doesn’t matter what sort of transmission you have and it also doesn’t matter what sort of fuel your car uses be it gas, diesel, natural gas, propane, electricity or any combination of the above (including hybrid, bi-fuel and flex-fuel vehicles), you stand to improve your mileage as much as 30% by ecomiling.
In fact, the thirstier your car is the more ecomiling stands to save you in real dollars. Take the following example of a person who drives 20,000km per year and pays $1.30/L for gasoline. A typical mid-sized sedan that consumes 10L/100km would use 2000L of gas over the course of the year, which would cost $2600. A gas guzzling sports car that consumes 20L/100km would use 4000L of gas over the course of the year and that would cost $5200. Improving each vehicle’s fuel economy by a very typical 15%, the realized savings would be $390 and $780 per year respectively. Those numbers are hard to say no to and they’re examples of only a modest 15% improvement in fuel economy! With ecomiling, your fuel savings can be as good as you make them.
Ultimately, the most substantial factor in determining how much money ecomiling can save you is, of course, you. The more conscientiously you apply the guidelines and follow the rules the more you save, but you don’t need to go to extremes to realize real benefits and keep your money in your pocket. Include ecomiling techniques in your daily commute and experiment with them. The more money you save the more you’ll want to improve your savings. Before long, you’ll be challenging yourself, your family and your friends to see who can save the most.
Stop complaining like Joe Average who gets interviewed by the local news while filling up. You can't change gas prices and you can't wait for somebody else to do something about them for you. The sooner you realize that you can achieve immediate relief from high gas prices simply by changing your driving habits the sooner you will start saving money. Don't sit around waiting for things to happen for you - make them happen now!
What you do with your savings is up to you! Advance to Lesson 3.
Lesson Quicklinks
Lesson 1: Get Started by Doing the ObviousDisclaimer: It is of critical importance that you always place safety first and fuel economy a very distant second. Although ecomiling may be an engaging, exciting and money-saving challenge, never place fuel economy above your safety or that of other road users. Obey all local traffic laws.