Could you double your fuel mileage today?

By Willby Evans

Last year’s wild ride with fuel prices put fuel mileage back in most peoples’ mind. Here at Don Chalmers Ford, we had a surge in renewed interest in smaller, more fuel efficient cars and trucks. Customer after customer came in trying to trade in larger, less fuel efficient vehicles for gas sipping models. However, despite the pinch on all of our wallets, many people really had a need for a larger vehicle. Here in New Mexico, we have many customers who live in rural areas and need the hauling and working capacity of a large truck. Plumbers, electricians, and other businesses also needed larger vehicles even though gas prices were playing havoc with their budgets.

Now, after going through an equally sharp decline in gas prices over the winter, miles per gallon are still an important consideration for many Americans. I think most of us know that fuel prices will go up again in the future. For me, environmental concerns are of even greater importance for using less fuel. National security worries that arise from being exposed to the international demand and in dealing with foreign suppliers are of genuine concern, as well. Rather than debating the merits of any of these reasons (we can let the radio, internet, and TV commentators argue about that all they want), I think most of us can agree that using less fuel is a good thing, regardless of your specific reasons for doing so.

So, what do you do if you own a larger vehicle? Maybe you have a large family or need towing capacity. Maybe you just aren’t ready to buy one yet. That doesn’t mean you can’t do something about dramatically increasing your MPGs today.

Last month (April ’09), Ford Motor Company claimed the world record for the most miles on a single tank for a gasoline-electric powered mid-sized sedan by driving 1,445.7 miles on a single tank of gas in a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The official estimated range for a single tank for this vehicle is around 700 miles, so they basically were able to double their mileage. So what was their secret? It was the drivers. Specifically, the drivers were trained in a driving technique called hypermiling. My next blog will go into details about this tremendous fuel saving technique.

I was very curious about this and what kind of difference it could make in other vehicles so I have decided to run a little experiment of my own. I have access to an E-350 van with a 5.4 liter V8 engine. Of course, this vehicle does not get anything near what I would call good mileage. I’m going to fill the tank and then drive it daily in city traffic (just my normal commute and errands, etc) in the aggressive way that many of drive everyday on our city streets. After that, I plan to drive the same vehicle on a second tank of gas using the same hypermiling techniques that were used to gain a world record for the Fusion hybrid. I’m wondering, can I also double the MPGs in a larger vehicle. I will report on what I find out next month along with a closer look at the mileage maximizing driving techniques.