5 Tips to MAXIMIZE Your
Fuel Economy
Tip 1: Drive at 55 instead of 65 and it can saves you 15% on fuel
Each make/model/year of car has it’s own fuel
efficiency numbers. A full size SUV will have lower
fuel economy than a new small sedan. The math still
holds though: dropping 15% of your fuel economy
can make a big difference to your weekly fuel cost.
Assuming a cost per gallon of $4.00 per gallon, that
extra 10mph is costing you $0.60 per gallon. If
your gas tank is a 15 gallon tank then you’re
spending an extra $9 per fill up on average.
Time is money and there just aren’t enough hours in a day, but let’s use
an example to see what the actual impact of that extra speed buys you.
Example: Let’s assume your car gets 30 miles per gallon on the
highway at the posted speed limit of 55. You need to make the trip
from Indianapolis to Chicago, about 165 miles one way, for a client
meeting.
Average
Speed
Drive
Time
Fuel
Economy
Cost of Fuel
($4/gal)
Time Savings
compared to
55 MPH
Extra Fuel
Cost
55
180 minutes
30 mpg
$22.00
--
--
65
150 minutes
25.5 mpg
$26.40
30 minutes
$4.40
75
132 minutes
20 mpg
$33.00
48 minutes
$11.00
Save even more money by tracking your business mileage! Round trip, at
the 2011 IRS business mileage deduction rate of .51/mile, will give you a
cool $168.30 mileage deduction come tax time. (Need a simple business
mileage tracking solution? See if CarCheckup.com is right for you!)
No-So-Fun Fact: The average cost for a speeding ticket is $150 in the US.
If you get caught speeding that will increase your
trip cost as well! Not to mention the 20-25 minutes
lost while being pulled over!
Sources:
EPA Fuel Tips - http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/17-tips.pdf
Fuel Econ.gov- Improving Driving Habits http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drivehabits.shtml
© CarCheckup, LLC 2013
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Tip 2: Rapid acceleration/braking can drop mileage by
up to 33%
Aggressive driving (hard acceleration, hard breaking, and excess
speed) can drop your mileage my up to 33%!
That’s like choosing to spend an extra $1.49 per gallon by hammering
the gas after each stoplight turns green and stopping aggressively
slamming the breaks when you approach a stoplight.
Simply adjusting driver performance by accelerating slowly and
coasting towards a light can make a huge impact on your fuel
economy.
Tip 3: Clean out your trunk! Every extra 100 pounds
reduces your fuel economy by 2%
You don’t have 100 pounds of junk in your trunk, right?
Do you put bags of sand or salt in your trunk to help with winter
traction? Are you still lugging it around with you now? That could be
well over 100 pounds by itself!
Now that we’ve taken care of that: What else do you have in there
that you really don’t need to carry?
Tip 4: At Idle you get ZERO miles per gallon!
The average passenger sedan burns car at idle
burns approximately one gallon of gas per hour
of idling.
A good rule of thumb is that if you are going to be
stopped for longer than 30 seconds, turn off your
engine. It takes less fuel to restart a car then it
does to run it for 10 seconds at idle.
It may not seem like a lot, but it really adds up! On the next
page we will examine exactly how much gas can be
wasted during idle!
Sources:
Infographic on Speeding Tickets-http://www.theautoinsurance.com
/how-much-is-that-speeding-ticket-really-
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worth_2010-05-18
© CarCheckup, LLC 2013
This chart shows you how much gas can be wasted at idle.
It adds up quickly!
Daily
Idle Time
Gallons
Per Day
Cost Per Day
@$4.50/Gal
Gallons
Per Month
Cost Per Month
@$4.50/Gal
Gallons
Per Year
Cost Per Year
@$4.50/Gal
15 min
.25
$1
5
$23
60
$270
30 min
.5
$2
10
$45
120
$540
45 min
.75
$3
15
$68
180
$810
60 min
1
$5
20
$90
240
$1,080
120 min
2
$9
40
$180
360
$2,160
As you can see, even small changes in driver behavior can have a huge
impact on fuel spend over the course of a year. One of the best ways to
increase fuel economy is to reduce idle time.
Tip 5: If you’re check engine light is on, find out why and
fix it!
Did you know that a bad O2 sensor can
reduce your fuel economy by up to 40%?
Or that a failed gas cap seal can cost you
5% of your fuel economy?
The EPA originally mandated the use of OBDII technology to aid in monitoring
emissions related systems. If you’re check engine light is on there is a solid
chance that your gas mileage is being impacted. These two check engine light
codes are among the most popular seen in the CarCheckup system.
CarCheckup.com can help you find these issues as
well make tracking driver performance and business
mileage for you or your fleet painless. Our intuitive
system explains why the check engine light is on, help
you see and improve your driving habits, and track
business mileage frustration-free!
To Learn More Visit www.CarCheckup.com
Sources:
Argon Laboratory - http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/361.pdf
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© CarCheckup, LLC 2013