Go Green – Eco Driving
Due to the spiralling costs of driving today, and the pressures on us all to be more eco friendly and reduce our carbon footprint it is very important that the imformation is available to us to help us take simple steps in the right direction. Below you will see a video clip and several eco-driving tips to help you take those first steps in the right direction in become an eco driver.
TIP: After re-fuelling a vehicle be sure to replace the fuel cap tightly as vapour and fumes can escape from a loose fuel cap and this can reduce the mileage achieved by your engine.
TIP: Automatic cars use approximately 10% more fuel than a manual vehicle.
TIP: Using synthetic oils rather than mineral oils can help you save fuel.
Generally people follow the same route to work so if you can learn the traffic light sequence you will know when they change from red to green and vice versa. From this you can reduce of the number of stops you have to make and can synchronise your speed to match when the traffic lights will change to green. This will reduce the amount of times you have to stop and start in turn reducing the amount of energy and fuel used. Try this on your way to work. It is far more fuel and energy efficient if your vehicle is moving continuously rather than stopping and starting.
A vehicle that is moving continuously requires less acceleration to continue moving. A vehicle that is stopping continuously requires far more energy, therefore more fuel is consumed. To achieve this increase your distance from the vehicle in front so that you don’t have to stop every time the vehicle in front does. This also reduces the number of gear changes required, and the less gear changes and less clutch use the less energy is required and the less fuel is used. Take a look at truck drivers in heavy traffic. You will see that they always try to roll on continuously rather than stop and start.
Another fuel saving exercise is to minimise or avoid any harsh acceleration when moving off and harsh braking when stopping. This type of Eco Driving involves gentle acceleration and progressive braking which can improve your fuel economy greatly. Accelerating harshly for a few seconds can use just as much fuel as driving at a steady pace for a longer period of time. An example of this would be when entering a corner or bend to look further ahead and decelerating which reduces the amount of braking force required or possibly none at all so the car maintains momentum and only gentle acceleration is required to drive the car around the bend. Another example would be following the car in front too closely or tailgating. This is following the car in front too closely and is an unsafe practice which means you must react extremely quickly as the car in front changes speed and direction. It is not recommended as it can be potentially dangerous and requires you to accelerate and decelerate quickly to maintain this position.
Most modern cars have air conditioning as standard. This is very useful in humid summer weather to help maintain a steady temperature in the car. But unfortunately there is a drawback to every perk. Your air conditioning can increase your fuel consumption by up to 15%. However, if you use your air conditioning while driving at speeds in excess of 70 kmph this can be more fuel efficient than opening your windows. When driving in towns or at slower speeds opening your windows is more fuel efficient. Above 70 kmph your air conditioning is more fuel efficient, so closing your windows at this speed will reduce fuel consumption. The cool air in the car can be re-used by the air conditioning system simply by pressing the re-circulation button so the air conditioning system doesn’t have to use hot air from outside so reducing the amount of fuel used.
In hot sunshine the inside of your vehicle can get very hot which means more air conditioning usage and in turn more fuel usage. In order to reduce the heat and CO2 emissions roll down the windows in a hot car to let the air escape. Try to avoid parking in direct sunshine. Sun reflectors are available to reduce the amount of heat in the car through the glass. Keep the car parked in the garage or shade if possible to reduce the amount of heat entering the car.
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