EcoLOGICAL Tip #3: Gas Mileage Tips for the Road Warriors

Trafton B.

January 5, 2010 - 6:44 PM

I'm fresh off of a recent road trip from San Francisco to Pasadena and up to Eugene, so I still have visions of I-5 rolling through my head. But what I haven't told you is that my roadtripping days began during Summer 2007 when I completed a two-month, 13000 mile trip around the nation visiting Major League Baseball stadiums. After all the hours and miles I've logged behind the wheel, these are my travel tips intended for those trying to remain environmentally conscious.

Cruise Control. First, utilizing the cruise control maintains your vehicle at a constant speed, which results in maintaining relatively constant gas mileage. Sure, there are externalities to consider like temperature, tire pressure and elevation change, but maintaining a constant speed dramatically increases your miles per gallon over long driving periods. Why? Just like stop and go traffic in city streets causes our gas mileage to decrease, so do micro-changes in acceleration on the highway. In reality, we are pretty much constantly changing our speed on highways because we can't keep our feet perfectly still on the gas pedal. Thus, we're losing gas mileage whenever our ankle starts to cramp or we space out and let up on the gas. So, when you can, utilize the cruise control. It's there for a reason.

Make sure your tires are at the appropriate pressure. Different autos and tires have different standard pressures, and you usually can find that info on the car door, on the tire or in your car manual. Long story short, if your tires are too flat you will lose gas mileage. If your tires are too full you will also lose gas mileage. Check your tire pressure as often as possible, and at the very least make sure your mechanic checks them every time you change your oil. Also, keep in mind any differences in elevation or temperature outside, because that will affect air pressure. Just ask a chemist about the gas laws.

Okay, there's your EcoTip for the week. Just in case you're driving around to visit family and friends still.