Fuel-Saving Fallacies

We aren't even at the start of the summer driving season and fuel prices are already hovering near the $4 a gallon range. While some don't feel the pinch as much as others, for those who shell out for filling up on a fairly regular basis, there's no denying the fact that fuel prices are rising and will continue to do so for the near term at least. I don't want to get into discussions (which is hard to do anyways in a one-sided blog) on why fuel costs are going up or how some people assume that drilling in Alaska will suddenly drop prices back down to a $1 a gallon, but I would like to take a look at the number of new 'theories' out there on how to increase fuel economy or save money at the pump the next time you're filling up.

Whenever there is some situation out there that suddenly warrants a lot of attention (like rising fuel costs) there are always hundreds if not thousands of sites that pop up with advice on how to improve the situation. They range from the fairly obvious to the most outlandish but still, people tend to believe them. For example, advisors will always tell you to keep your air filters fresh. While this has some impact on the fuel-air mixture in the car, it's not going to suddenly boost your 10 miles per gallon SUV into electro-hybrid fuel economy range. It's probably wise to change out the filter on a regular basis anyways but other than getting you an extra few miles per gallon, it isn't going to go a long way to helping you out.

One of the other common pieces of advise is to always keep your tires inflated at the proper pressure. Now again, this seems obvious really do much in the way of increasing fuel economy. What it does do is ensure that your car doesn't have to work harder to get moving. What does that mean? Well think about it in simpler terms. If you have to start a bicycle moving on level ground with properly inflated tires, it's fairly simple. Trying the same drill with deflated tires means that you're going to be working harder to get moving and generally it means you're going to expend more energy. In the case of cars, your car's engine will have to work harder to get that initial momentum going when starting from a stop.

And what about starting and stopping? Some people have some very weird ideas about how this part of the fuel economy equation works. The advice that is usually seen on the internet and on TV says to avoid sudden starts and stops. What do we mean by 'sudden' starts and stops? Well part of it has to do with the ego (and most of the times it's the male ego). When we're at a stoplight and the car next to us just happens to glance our way, there are many people who suddenly get infected with what I call 'Formula 1 Fever' where they want to launch off the stop light as quickly as possible. Now if you were on a long stretch of highway then there's nothing like it, you can accelerate to cruising speed and enjoy but most of the time all we end up doing is racing from one traffic light to the next and end up doing the sudden stopping part where we feel the need to test our vehicles brakes in the shortest distance possible.

This is due in part to another fallacy or misunderstanding that people have. A lot of times the advice we see tells us to drive at a constant speed on the highway or roads (where possible) in order to avoid running the engine all over the threshold. But what many people assume that means is that they should continue going at 65 until just at the time you're supposed to stop so instead of decelerating it means coming to a dead stop as soon and as fast as possible. Crazy I know but still, that's what some people tend to think. Now the cruise control thing, I have seen it work to get me that extra few miles per gallon. Again it's not much but if it means the difference between filling up every week and every week and a half to two weeks, then you bet I'm going to try it.

Fuel prices are probably going to go higher this summer since demand is still high and production and costs are still low so this translates to us consumers paying more for fuel and for airline tickets (since planes do need fuel to fly too). I guess we could have planes reach cruising altitude and then have them shut down the engines and float down to the ground in a long slow descent. Passengers might get fazed a bit but at least it may help cut down on costs. I'm joking of course but I'm sure that this idea was tossed around in a few boardrooms by airline execs who have never sat in a cockpit other than for a publicity shot. Be that as it may, one sure fire way to save at the pump is to drive like a safe and sane person. Curb those racer tendencies and carpool when possible. And the simplest solution of all? Buy something that isn't a massive SUV which guzzles gas for the least amount of fuel efficiency at the highest possible capacity, you'll find yourself with a bit more change in your pocket that way.