You won't save much money by hypermiling

It's not a waste of time to hypermile. You are already driving the car, so there is no extra investment of time. It's not like you could do the laundry or cook dinner, or watch a movie while driving. Wait! If you drive a Tesla you COULD watch Harry Potter ...

 

Yes do the math! 750 mile trip at 75 mph takes 10 hrs vs 65 mph takes 11 hrs 10 mins. Spending a extra 1 hrs on the road makes a big difference!

 

Do the math on a normal 20 to 30 mile commute!! I assure you the arrival time difference would be very minimal!!

A couple minutes difference like I posted earlier.. If that..

Also you will achieve probably 10-20 more mpg going 55 and not 75+ mph...so there is that too..

No one commutes 750 miles! If you are on a huge roadtrip then you handle that as you see fit speed wise.

 

A

Agree those extra few mins are valuable! Especially if you dont have the time!

 

Or leave 3 mins earlier and don't speed...

 

I never drive 55 mph! When the posted is higher! It's piss me off when someone is driving that slow! They can and will cause accidents!! So get out of my way!!! LOL !

 

This post illustrates why California license plates had such a bad reputation where I grew up.

 

Where I do most of my driving, 75 mph is simply not legal, so the time calculation needs to include allowance for sitting on the side of the road while the cops do computer background checks and write tickets. Depending on how many officers are out that day, that could negate the entire time savings, and then some.

Plus, 75 mph is simply not physically safe on most of those roads. I'd be slowing down at lot, for curves and traffic, so much of that potential time savings just doesn't materialize.

On top of that, due to road fatigue, I simply can no longer SAFELY drive 10 hours in a day. (In hindsight, I'm not so sure it was ever safe.) That long a trip must now be spread out over 2 days. From that perspective, a 1 hour time difference isn't all that much, especially compared to the much larger amount time it takes for my travel partner to get loaded into the car, through a half-dozen restroom breaks, ponder and decide among menu choices at the meal stops, select a motel for the night, repack the next morning, stop for tea, etc. ...

 

now you're talking, might be worth the investment.

 

Back to the OP. You are right, one doesn't save a lot of money by hypermiling. Some of us enjoy getting higher mileage for all kinds of quirky reasons and saving a few cents is simply a perk. You don't save much money by playing golf either, but people still do it. My quirky reason is that I give gas a lot higher moral value than the dollars it costs me— it is something we send our sons and daughters off to war for, it gums up our planet coming and going, etc. I want to use as little of this wretched stuff as possible. So it is not so much about the 10¢ per trip I might save. There are of course others who are doing much better than me— walking and riding bike more, doing better than my lifetime average of 52.2 mpg at 222,500 miles.... I keep working on it and have fun doing it. Just confirming your note that we aren't saving much money! It's Sunday and that was my second sermon of the day!

 

There are 2 frequently used phrases that bug the sh*t outa me....

"I don't have time..."

and

"If I get the time..."


That is such BS! They don't "have time", yet they got PLENTY of time to constantly check and spend hours of time on Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, text messages, email, and whatever the hell else. It's those "no time" people, that allow their cell phone to become their whole life!

And it's those same people that are speeding around, who are the ones that are constantly late to work and appointments! All their speeding doesn't help those losers at all!

So, there! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!! Speeders, late people, and those that always say they have "no time" are just irresponsible losers!


(If anybody wants to fight, I'll meet you in the alley out back. )

 

I had just read a few months ago, that the U.S. Is now the largest oil producer. And has the largest reserves? Why are we still importing oil??? Keep drilling, baby! But, on the other hand, hundreds of the fracking/drilljng companies are going out of business. So I don't understand any of it!

I didn't buy a Prius to "save the planet" or reduce the carbon footprint. I just wanted a reliable, proven, economical, low-Maint vehicle. And it just so happens that it gets 63 MPG! So I guess, maybe, I'm doing my tiny part to help. And I recycle my plastic/paper/glass.... (But NO, I refuse to become a liberal! )

 

^ There's another labour of love.

My wife was the first start washing out plastic bags, shrink wrap, cellophane, for example. Then I got the bug. We store it all, then bundle and take it to a local store that accepts plastic bags (Save-On Foods). There's other items that used to be off limits, Styrofoam for example, everything from packing materials to meat trays. There a local recycler (Return-It) that takes it now.

There's precious little that goes in the "garbage" now. Mainly some composite material wrappers, stuff we really should stop buying. And we no longer use a plastic "liner bag".

None of this "pays". Or does it?

 

We have a great recycling/trash collection company in our city. They pick up everything, every Friday. And one Saturday a month, if you prefer, you can drive to their location and drop off hazardous waste, electronics, oil, paint, all kinds of stuff.

They even have free "bulk item" pick ups... old chairs, mattresses, couch, TV's, whatever. Just set it in front of your house, and it's gone. To recycle heaven! There is NO excuse to NOT recycle. And they have videos on the local TV station, and tell how exactly all the recycling is done. (Most of the recycled plastic is shipped overseas to foreign countries.)

Also they pick up all the yard clippings, and turn all that into mulch/ fertilizer. Very nice company. Hard working people.

 

Well....the speed limit on I95 near me is indeed 55 mph, so I am simply obeying the law and doing so in the far right lane of travel...its just the impatient /tailgater/ gotta drive 85+ then slam the brakes at the next bottleneck crowd that look quite silly...especially once they get pulled over and ticketed. LOL!

I wouldn't do 55 on the turnpike where the limit is 75 though, yeah that's asking to get rear ended. Speed limit is a max though not a minimum.

Just remember this thread next time you feel like posting a "why am I only getting 45+\- mpg" type thread..

 

Agree 100% with Blizzard_Persona. I always wonder what people are thinking... when they have this blatant, total disregard for the speed laws and rules of the road. Do they think it's cool? Funny? Just want attention? Trying to impress their girlfriend?

It's crazy guys like that, speeders & drunks, who end up crashing, and killing an innocent motorist. And now we have distracted driving, don't get me started on that! Our governor just signed a new law beginning January 1, you can't even hold your cell phone while in the car. Has to be mounted on the dashboard. (But that's not gonna stop anybody from talking, texting, being distracted.)

 

Agree 100% with Blizzard_Persona. I always wonder what people are thinking... when they have this blatant, total disregard for the speed laws and rules of the road. Do they think it's cool? Funny? Just want attention? Trying to impress their girlfriend?

It's crazy guys like that, speeders & drunks, who end up crashing, and killing an innocent motorist. And now we have distracted driving, don't get me started on that! Our governor just signed a new law beginning January 1, you can't even hold your cell phone while in the car. Has to be mounted on the dashboard. (But that's not gonna stop anybody from talking, texting, being distracted.)

 

Hypermiling takes dedication and persistence to get big numbers tank after tank after tank. BTDT and gave up.

With a plug-in who's EV range fits my daily requirements, I now just drive with or even ahead of traffic and still net 130-150mpg(e). I did get 180-200mpg(e) the one time I did try to hypermile it. I'm betting the Prime will get 250mpg(e) in the right hands.

 

Not so fast there speedy! A Prius will need to stop AT LEAST once for gas. Plus you don't know how often you and/or your passengers will also decide they need to stop to eat and/or need to use a toilet and/or view the sites, and/or shop for t-shirts, etc. Most people stop every 2-3 hours. Much of your time "saved" is lost when you are NOT in the car waiting in line at Hardee's and McDonald's.

 

There are too many who operate as if the opposite was true. And have all the phrases to justify it.

 

Everyone driving faster than me is an IDIOT!
Everyone driving slower than me is a MORON!

 

A classic false equivalence. The point is that minimum, along with maximum speed limits, are there to protect all motorists from crashing into each other. Maximum speed limits are there to keep motorists from a much larger multitude of problems.