Basics of hypermiling

Today, with the economy crisis and extinction of fossil fuel , most of drivers tend to do hypermiling. In Sri Lanka most of drivers even don't concern about their fuel wastage and economy driving, not even hybrid vehicle owners. I'm going to talk about basics of hypermiling that also work fine for me.

Remember, hypermiling tend to risk of colliding. You need 100% concentration on road and on your vehicle. Lets Begin.

Focus

• Turn off your radio. This will not even distract you , but also drain your main battery.
• Focus on your driving habits. 
• Always focus on traffic in front and behind of you.

Vehicle Maintenance

• Make sure you vehicle transmission, suspensions and steering are well maintained and fit for the road.
•  Change engine , transmission oil regularly according to user manual. I recommend to change engine oil in every 5,000 km and transmission oil in every 60,000 km. Bad transmission and bad engine tend to lose the conversion of thermal energy to kinetic energy.
• Make sure your brakes system works fine and your brake discs are not warped. Brakes that applies constantly without drivers knowledge would jeopardise safe and economy driving.
• Do not have hood racks, spoilers attached to your car. You are not a racer. You are determined to do hypermiling. Excess drag is the worst enemy of hypermiling.

 Patience

• Drive with focus. Drive with patience. Road rage won't take you anywhere, except hospital or behind bars.

Change your driving habits

• Do not accelerate or brake too hard whenever it is possible. Sudden acceleration and deceleration affects negatively to hypermiling. Acceleration consumes your fuel and deceleration consumes your momentum.
• Keep considerable distance between adjacent vehicles.
• Always look from rear view mirror , when coasting or braking.
• Think ahead of  traffic jam or traffic lights and change to coasting mode.
• Turn off your A/C whenever its possible.
• Don't roll down your windows when your speed is over 60km h. This increases drag or parachute effect and your engine work hard to push the car forward.
• Be light on accelerator.
• Let it coast in light downhills.
• Start your journey at dawn. This will reduce traffic jam + extra energy consumption of headlamps and etc.

Vehicle load

• It's not wise to remove your spare wheel from your vehicle. But it is also an extra load.
• Carry your luggage as light as possible. More load means more energy consumption. 
• Carry extra weight downhill. Gravity will take care of delivery. 

Plan your route

• Plan and choose least traffic and least distance road.
• Always use alternative roads.
• Don't hit heavy traffic roads. If it is a must, then research for least traffic jam time and allocate that time to hit that road.
• Depart early. So you don't need to rush.