With the cost of oil pushing prices at the pump toward record levels once again, squeezing out an extra 5 miles per gallon can add up to you saving hundreds of dollars a year. Fortunately, you don�t have to be a hybrid owner to save money. It doesn�t matter whether you drive a 2010 Toyota Camry, a 1980 Honda Civic, or a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado � any vehicle can be hypermiled.
In fact, this may surprise you, but the less fuel efficient your vehicle is, the more you can benefit from hypermiling. For example, if you are currently averaging 18 mpg, paying 3.00/ga for gas, and drive 15,000 miles a year, hypermiling up to 23 mpg would save you $544.00 a year!
The Scangauge is a great way to monitor you fuel consumption; it provides instant feedback and can help you max out your mpg's on any vehicle.
The soon-to-be released Prius C is going to be the most fuel efficient vehicle yet, with an estimated 60 mpg average!
The next time you need to replace your tires, opt for ones with lower rolling resistance. Many brands now carry this option, and the lower rolling resistance can help add a few mpgs to your hypermiling stats!
Like you saw in my first example, you only need to pick up 5mpg in a car with bad fuel economy to realize well over $500.00 a year in savings. Let�s take this to the extreme: if you are driving a 1975 Buick Electra LTD getting 7 miles per gallon, you would only need to hypermile up to 8 miles per gallon (just ONE mile per gallon increase in fuel efficiency) to realize over $800.00 per year in savings.
Have a fuel efficient car already? Don�t feel left out � this brings me to:
So, if you are already getting an average of 28 miles per gallon, hypermiling up to 33 mpg would only show a gain of a little over $243 a year. However, because you are already starting out with what is most likely a lighter, more aerodynamic, fuel efficient car to begin with, if you use good hypermiling techniques, you could see a gain from 28 mpg up to 38 mpg, thus saving you close to $425.00 a year. This leads me to the third savings point:
Ready to start saving hundreds a year by hypermiling? Lets get started!
You can head to www.fueleconomy.gov to find out the government EPA fuel ratings for your vehicle.