Hypermiling Challenge

OK, at today's Tuesday meeting we talked about an article Mitzi brought in on hypermiling, which is a technique for improving gas mileage utilizing specific driving techniques. Hypermilers are people who exceed EPA fuel efficiency standards with their cars by using these techniques. Here are some:
* Do not use quick accelerations or brake heavily
* Do not idle excessively
* Do not drive at higher speeds
* Cold weather and frequent short trips reduce fuel economy, since your engine doesn't operate efficiently until it is warmed up. Drive to your furthest destination first and then as you are heading home, stop at the closer destinations in order from furthest to closest as the car is warmed up for longer portions of your drive.
* Remove Cargo or cargo racks
* Minimize running mechanical and electrical accessories (source: Beating the EPA: The Whys and How to Hypermile])

We own a Prius with a screen that gives us real-time fuel efficiency, so we have automatically adopted some of these techniques because we can see the results on the screen. But the interesting thing about hypermiling is that it applies to ALL cars, not just hybrids. All of us can see significant mileage increases if we adopt a few of these guidelines.


So here's the challenge our group will be taking on this weekend. Some of us will be driving up north to work on the Michigania Bulb Project, and some will be driving to Illinois. We have all agreed to drive 60 MPH on the way there and 70 MPH on the way back and compare mileage. We're going to relax and take our time, and see what we come up with.