Featured Series of Articles About Hypermiling

In regards to the music article, this touches on driving psychology.

Automakers invest millions to play with your mood while driving and to buy their vehicle in the first place - check out the out of print book High and Mighty (book) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia by Keith Bradsher. Also google Clotaire Rapaille, an automotive marketer/psychologist that influenced SUV styling to be bada$$. The book notes that being higher make the ride seem slower, the acoustics make it quiet, to dampen your sense of speed. The sweeping speedometer understates the acceleration. There is less visibility, so drivers feel "secure", but of course there are blind spots.

Let's go to the Prius. It's lower to the ground to give you a better sense of speed. It's not as quiet. The dash is designed to make you aware of your speed and fuel economy. The speedometer is a huge digital readout that hypes acceleration more than a tiny sweeping needle. The Prius has more visibility.

It's not just what you drive that influences your mood, but the time and place. Twenty years ago, I left work after doing a couple of hours overtime. Suddenly, I realized I was driving slower, because it was not like in the morning when I was "competing" with others.

If I'm stressed, I will notice a drop in fuel economy - stressed drivers have heavier feet typically.

 

You might consider showing the Toyota recommended driving instructions:



Shamelessly copied from Toyota.

Bob Wilson

 

I am still looking for the definitive"how Wayne Gerdes" does it. I need to know what the exact numbers he tries to hit when driving and using Torque guages (or smiliar).

 

While you're waiting: Efficient driving for a 1,000 mile tank | PriusChat

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

Beating the EPA - The Why’s and How to Hypermile | CleanMPG

 

Like a moth to fire, here comes the flame:

• Cops: "Hypermiling" Often Risky, Illegal - CBS News

Mr. Google can provide any number of negative references about hypermiling. In effect, the reality of how others view hypermiling which is ironic considering how these same critics obey the posted speed limits. <GRINS>

With hypermiling, there is no need to understand how the Prius works or the differences between Gen-1, Gen-2, Gen-3, or Gen-4. Heck, one might as well drive anything (and some do.)

Hypermiling is a 'one style fits all.' It worked great for setting a Guinness record to promote a NOx emitting TDI diesel. The irony is EPA stands for Environmental Protection Agency, the MPG baseline that hypermiling references while not giving a hoot about what comes out the tail pipe.

Bob Wilson

 

The intent of Tony's articles is get beyond the misunderstanding of hypermiling. Many have dwelt on a few techniques to demonize everything hypermiling. This is no different than this election year when candidates don't reason, but punch hot buttons as the easy way to win.

For years I have read hypermiling articles that regurgitate drafting, rolling stops, driving way below traffic during rush hour, hating and hoping the public will accept this as what hyper milers do.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF HYPERMILERS DO NOT ENDORCE OR PRACTICE THE TECHNIQUES I JUST MENTIONED.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF HYPERMILERS DO NOT ENDORCE OR PRACTICE THE TECHNIQUES I JUST MENTIONED.

After the first few hypermiling articles in 2006, most understaffed news outlets just copied earlier ones without really investigating it, or were just hostile. Since it's not that well known, it was easy to spin negatively.

I request those not sold on hypermiling pause on linking sources that focus on drafting, etc until there is a chance to cover it at PC. I'd like to address some of the questionable issues without a flame war.

 

While still dated 2006, Wayne's article no longer contains the references to drafting the earlier draft had, and it is dissuaded in the discussions I now come across, but I only check in once awhile for the articles.

 

Drafting

I'd rather Tony do an article on this - don't mind lending this content to him, but now the topic of drafting needs to be addressed.

This year we have heard much about demagoguery. Technically it's a form of speaking, one so bad we generally don't dignify them as speakers and disassociate from them. In the same way, drafting can be called hypermiling, but never, ever be considered legitimate hypermiling. On defining a term, sometimes it's necessary to say what it is not.

Before I dwell on why to avoid drafting like the plague - it is an extremely effective method of saving energy. Geese fly in a V-formations to conserve their strength - pilots are use the V formation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - also known as "vortex surfing." In 1966 an F-104 was flying close to the XB-70 Valkrie bomber for a photoshoot, but the vortex caused a collision resulting the the loss of both planes and their pilots. It was not intentional drafting, but definitely one of the hazards of the practice. CSX Transportation had a commercial declaring every ton they ship by rail gets 420 miles to the gallon. A mile-long train is the most fuel-efficient land vehicle - it's almost like a huge needle. With the cars coupled, you could consider that drafting. Or more precicely, platooning ( Platoon (automobile) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

When the 2000 Honda Insight was introduced, Honda offered $5000 to the driver that could get the best fuel economy out of the 5-speed. Popular Mechanics drove it and got 83.4 mpg @ 59 mph, which is consistent to my driving in ideal real-life situations in warm weather, but they didn't win.

The Car and Driver editor was in the Bill Belichick mode - what can I do within the rules to get the best fuel economy? Honda replied they did not care how he did it. So Don Schroder constructed this huge V-shaped trailer behind a Ford Excursion that would block the air better than an 18-wheeler. He was inches, occasionally tapping the trailer over about 100 miles, even in two-way communications. Schroder won with 121.7 mpg - Honda awarded both Car and Driver and Popular Mechanics $5000. In my experience and observation, 121 mpg is barely possible @ 40 in no traffic under ideal conditions that might as well be a closed course. Or pulsing to 25 or so, cut the engine, glide to 15, and repeat. Based on my brief expermentation drafting ten years ago, the coolant temperature rose from 195 F to 207 F or a little higher. Since the Insight still is one of the most aerodynamic cars on the road (Cd 0.25), most other vehicles drafting would realize an even larger improvement. Interestingly, the Ford Excursion towing the trailer had improved fuel economy, so the Insight may have been like a boat tail - the tapering ends of many cars in the 30s and 40s. Special Tactics Help Car and Driver Get An Amazing 121.7 Mpg in Honda Insight. - Free Online Library

About my experimentation with drafting in 2006. The most likely thing to go wrong is it's very easy to miss exits - when you see the sign it's already too late. The only way this will save a significant amount of fuel is on open roads at steady speeds, so forget about doing this in urban driving.

The trucking community since hearing about drafting in the media have discussed this extensively in their forums. It's likely if you draft a trucker they might vary their speed or kick pebbles when they ride the shoulder. They have a hard life with long hours that makes the driver of a 80,000 lbs vehicle at risk of being drowsy. Did you know the most common occupation in your state is probably truck driver? (Map: The Most Common* Job In Every State : Planet Money : NPR ) Along with the long hours is the pressure to deliver the goods and keeping their fuel bills as low as possible - an improvement of 0.1 mpg is big to them. They typically get about 6 mpg (
How to Improve Fuel Efficiency on the Road - Article - TruckingInfo.com )

The word hypermiling was coined around 2005 and the first article appeared about a year later. While the Mother Earth article describing taking turns to avoid braking the way a snowboarder cuts down the mountain attracted viewers, the PR was not good. The print media already was experiencing a structural depression, so how could you expect reporters to cover a new an obscure topic well? Add to that they are understaffed, under pressure, impatient, so most likely not sympathetic to hypermilers - and many were not. I know many that were interviewed and when the story was published, were shocked to see themselves thrown under the bus...a decade ago a member here or another hybrid site suffered that treatment on a hybrid story. Anyway, one of the first hypermiling articles mentioned drafting and at least 90% of the hundreds of articles mentioned it simply because reports did not do original research and just leaned on the first stories instead.

Like many things "discussed" on the internet and social media, it's often not an honest thoughtful one, but angry people taking the easy way out punching buttons in a hit-and-run mode - kind of like the campaign rhetoric in this election year. Just under 33,000 Americans were killed on the roads in 2015 - about 2/3 of that some form of DUI, followed by driving while drowsy, distracted. Let's not forget the factor of speeding - going 25 mph over the stated limit has increased in recent years.

I have seen hundreds of hypermiling articles in the media, and most of them attempt to paint hypermilers as molesting semis, rolling thru intersections (like aggressive drivers), etc. By the numbers, this is crying wolf - it's the drivers I just mentioned. So the real issue is why are the haters trying to discredit anything even leaning towards hypermiling? The most likely reason is they are less concerned about being hit by a texting driver than being impeded by a slow driver. Many drivers just don't allocate a reasonable time for their commute and/or not familiar with the commute. Anyone in their way is a threat. But most hypermilers would rather yield to the drivers in a hurry.

 

We have a practical example of the difference between hypermiling and efficient driving:
&#039;16 real MPG | Page 5 | PriusChat

The 2016 Prius has an enhanced, ECO mode display that all but eliminates the need for additional instrumentation:

• green line - total vehicle power bar like the Gen-3 has
• blue line (new) - requested accelerator power, a visual feedback from the accelerator

With these two simple bars and following the guidelines at:
Series of Articles About Hypermiling | PriusChat

Any driver, even non-technical people like my wife, can use this display to quickly start racking up impressive MPG values. It lets the driver see how to change their accelerator behavior and 'knock it out of the park' and unique in the Gen-4 Prius.

Bob Wilson

 

You can definitely hypermile without resorting to "advanced hypermiling techniques"

Due to the many articles that dwell on a few controversial techniques (in my circles euphemistically called "advanced hypermiling techniques"), hypermiling has been dismissed by some wholesale. Again, hypermiling is exceeding the expectations of the car (i.e. EPA.) as Tony defined it. Advanced hypermiling techniques tend to be:

• Drafting (page up a couple of posts for the rundown, but never do this.)
• Rolling stops (Reality check: most people who do it are speeders, but lots of articles make it seem otherwise)
• Driving much slower than the traffic - this one is a little dicey, depending on the situation. If you are going the posted 60 mph on a freeway and not in the passing lane, does that make the pack going 75 right? I don't think so. Many hypermilers drive at non rush hour times to avoid these situations.
• Pulse and Glide in heavy traffic. Again, most hypermilers avoid doing this in gridlock situations like in the previous point.
• Fixation on the dashboard. As earlier posts stressed, pay attention to other drivers and the road first. The articles attempting to smear distracted hypermilers have a very blind eye to the pandemic use of cell phones/texting while driving.
• Driving with the engine off. Illegal in non-hybrids unless you have a kill switch - you are 100% safe and legal in a full hybrid doing this with the right amount of pedal pressure. Note in a full hybrid the engines can be off while the power button is on.

 

i pulse and glide when my battery is empty of wall charge, or in my wife's hycam. i find it very effective in medium to light traffic.

 

In gridlock, I see gearheads, slam the accelerator, then the brakes - pulse and glide

In context, many of the hypermiling articles attempt to cast us as a farm tractor that may delight in being a nuisance.

P&G is fine when traffic permits.

 

Up here pretty much everyone rolls stop signs.

 

i roll the stop signs unless i can't see properly.

 

I'm confused about the example in rule #3 and how to comply with rule #1 without breaking rule #4. In that example, you were being an nice person and driving above the speed limit. Breaking rules #1, 3, and 4. Well, you didn't break 3 since it's a statement but you did ignore it. Even before I learned of hypermiling, my normal cruising speed is 5 over speed limit. If there is nowhere to pull over and let the tailgater pass, what should you do? Go faster?

 

No wonder your confused - you are mentioning four rules all at once, jumping between them all. Saying I'm speeding and a jerk means you are definitely confused. Likewise about holding back traffic...my point of reference is a six-lane interstate. Could you take one or two at a time and avoid the name calling? My prior post was not detailed on all those techniques and situations, but even if it were, now I'm wondering if you just want to argue - I came to reason.

Making my last post real simple, there are a few hypermiling techniques that the press and haters online have demonized - some of those might be used responsibly - some such as drafting can't. You can still hypermile with lots of techniques that are perfectly safe, legal.