Save Fuel And Save The Environment With These Eco-Driving Tips

Cars in Australia account for the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as Queensland’s entire fossil-fuelled electricity supply, which makes reducing these emissions extremely important in tackling climate change.

One of the best ways to address this is to simply use cars less, opting for public transport, cycling or walking wherever possible. Sometimes, though, you don’t have any other option than your car.

You can still do your bit while driving, though, by taking steps to drive more efficiently, reducing fuel consumption and in turn limiting the carbon footprint of each trip.

Change your driving style

The first step to driving more economically is to think about the way that you use your car. For example, avoiding aggressive driving — I.e sudden acceleration, excessive speeds, and hard braking — can make a big difference to fuel efficiency.

It’s estimated that aggressive driving can lower your gas mileage by 15 to 30% on highways and 10 to 40% in stop-and-start traffic, so exercising a bit more restraint is a good start for keeping your fuel efficiency high.

You should also try not to leave your engine idling when you’re not moving. If you’re stuck in traffic and not moving for more than a minute at a time, or if you’re sat waiting to pick someone up, turn your engine off to avoid wasting fuel.

Most newer cars have a stop-start system that does this for you automatically, but if yours doesn’t then it pays to make a habit of turning off your engine manually when you aren’t moving.

Finally, consider the best way of keeping cool. Winding the window down and turning on the air conditioning can both reduce your fuel efficiency - the AC is very energy-intensive, and opening a window can create drag that forces your car to work harder to maintain speed or accelerate.

Which is best depends on your current speed — open windows won’t make much difference at lower speeds, but the faster you go the more drag they will create. Because of this, try to keep cool by opening windows when you’re moving more slowly, and switch to the AC when you start driving faster.

Carry out the right maintenance and preparation

It’s not just when you’re on the road that you should be thinking about your car’s fuel economy. Before you even set off, there are steps you can take to improve your car’s efficiency; in particular, it’s important to carry out the proper maintenance.

First off, you should regularly check the pressure on all your tyres. If they aren’t at the right pressure level, they can impact your car’s performance. Underinflated tyres will cause your car’s fuel efficiency to drop, and they’re also more vulnerable to damage, making it more likely you’ll have to replace them entirely, which is bad for your wallet as well as the environment.

Give some thought to what your car is carrying, too. Even small amounts of excess weight can make your car work slightly harder to maintain or increase speed, and while this difference might seem minimal on paper, over time it will stack up to a lot of extra fuel being used. Only keep items that you need on a regular basis or that are necessary for emergencies in your car, and take out any other clutter.

Finally, if you’ve got a roof rack, take it off! Even when they’re unloaded, roof racks create drag that slows your car down and makes the engine work harder. Because of this, roof racks can increase your fuel bill by as much as 25%, so if you have a removable one you should leave it off until you actually need to use it.

Choose a more eco-friendly car

By far the biggest step to being a more eco-friendly driver is to use a more eco-friendly car. If you’re in the market for a new car, make fuel efficiency a priority when comparing different models. Not only will this help you save the environment, but it’ll also help you save on fuel costs too.

Consider going for a hybrid vehicle instead of a traditional petrol or diesel car to reduce the need for fuel even further; or, if you want to eliminate the need for fuel entirely, consider an electric vehicle.

Electric vehicles have steadily been getting cheaper as they become more mainstream, and since you don’t need to buy fuel for them, they can help you make huge savings in the long run at the same time as offering a greener drive.