It’s no secret that getting some of the lead out of your foot gives you better gas mileage. But just how much better may surprise you. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal on ‘Eco-Driving’ documents one woman’s gas mileage increasing from 15mpg to 21 – a saving of 40%. The techniques are simple – accelerate slowly, coast up to red lights, keep your highway speed below 100kph – and for more advanced ‘hyper-milers’ (as hard-core eco-drivers are known), turn off your car at lights and while going down hills, and practice the ‘pulse-and-glide’.
Unfortunately, while all the tools are there at our disposal, our speed-obsessed car-as-power-penis culture thwarts us at every turn with the big money marketing and media machine tuned to a high-revving whine and bursting off the line with the smell of burning rubber.
So how can we make efficient driving cool? Is there a way to turn speed-culture on its ear, especially with younger drivers? Well, maybe an action movie about hyper-milers might not be realistic. But there are a few tricks that might work.
Create a Social Media Movement. There may only be 3% of young drivers interested in eco-driving scattered around the country, but those numbers add up when networked. A Facebook group for eco-drivers and a competition application could easily be developed, pitting mileage fiends around the world against each other. Prime sponsorship opportunity for some smart company in the eco-space. I found one eco-driving Facebook group, but it’s all in Greek!
Make a YouTube Parody. Create a ‘Fast & Furious’ style movie trailer that extols the virtues of eco-driving while portraying speed culture as the adolescent farce it really is. (Note, ‘The Passed and The Virtuous’ is available… film producers feel free to contact me!)
Pit Youth against Big Oil. Illustrate the direct relationship between personally achieving better mileage and sticking it to the man at the Exxon level. Possibly with a web site that lets you track gas savings and shows the cumulative effect our actions are having. Youth thrives on the up-yours energy of a good rebellion. Driving slow can be a statement.
Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Just do it and talk it up. Everywhere you can. For instance, if you’re a blogger, write an article like this one. Heck, SOMEBODY is going to read it.
6 responses so far ↓
1 christian malthaner // Apr 23, 2009 at 9:01 am
good stuff Lorne. With my RHD Mitsubishi Canter I can’t get over 100 kph unless I coast down the hills between Pemberton and Whistler.
2 admin // Apr 23, 2009 at 10:47 am
Coast on, speed freak. Downhill is all carbon-free adrenaline! BTW, your choice of te Mitsubishi Canter over your old Ford F350 Crew Cab should get you some good eco-brownie points!
3 Duck // Apr 27, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I seem to remember a certain eco-warrior who spent his youth as a speed freak.
Paul decided to try extreme hyper-miling on his 60 mile commute. He managed to increase his mileage to nearly 60mpg from the mid 40’s but it took him twice the time to get to work and extra 2 hours a day. As one of those aging speed freaks I ran the same trip in 36 minutes and still got over 30mpg. I don’t think I get eco-brownie points, but my time is worth more than $3/hr.
4 admin // Apr 28, 2009 at 10:00 am
Yes, I admit to driving my Datsun with the tach pegged (if not the speedo)… in those days we were the ‘sport car freaks’ challenging Calgary’s V-8 mentality with souped-up soup cans from the first wave of imports that answered the first energy crisis in the 70’s. Of course, back then environmental awareness was more about saving forests and whales. Wonder where it will be in another 30 years…
Thanks for the personal history check, Duck!
5 Kevin // May 20, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Watch the shut-off-engine while coasting downhill trick. Most modern fuel injected or diesel engines already shut off fuel when coasting. Going down a hill with no power steering or power brakes is all fine unless you have to avoid a deer jumping in front of you. It’s a whole heck of alot safer to just let the engine do it.
6 admin // May 21, 2009 at 7:35 am
Didn’t know that about the diesel / injectors shutting fuel off to coast… and I agree that shutting one’s car off is a bit sketchy. Though I’m not sure why all cars now have to have power steering, brakes, windows, etc etc… I seem to recall having a number of cars in the 80’s without any of that stuff and they worked just fine…. Guess I’m becoming a fogey…
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