PickupPal Blog

Hypermiling is a gas-saving craze that has been sweeping the US over the last few years as a reaction to the increasing costs of gasoline.

Hypermiling, to the uninitiated, is a way of increasing the mileage of your vehicle by making some skillful changes to your driving style.

A few Hypermiling tips:

• Go easy on the gas pedal.
• Drive a hybrid car.
• Measure mileage for every trip you make and keep a log.
• Be ready to drive, before turning on the engine. To avoid unnecessary idling whilst putting on a seat-belt etc.
• Turn-off the engine when slowing or stopping. For example: when Hypermilers see a stop light they will cut-off the engine and coast to a stationary position.
• Finding parking spots that are easy to cruise into, without any gas-burning maneuvers.

For the extreme Hypermilers there is even a Hypermiling competition at this year’s Hybrid Fest called the MPG Challenge.

Whilst some of these suggestions are a little extreme and dangerous (coasting in neutral), it seems people are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to save money on gas. I wonder how many of these Hypermilers share their rides?

- Jonathan

When I was a younger man I studied Urban Planning and during the four years studying all aspects of Urban Design, Transportation Planning, Participatory Planning, Environmental law - all that there was one thing we never talked about - what effect will an increase in the cost of energy have on the viability of suburban development? What happens when the cost of personal transportation becomes a deciding factor in the decision as to whether one can afford to live on the outskirts of town? I know you might be thinking - bahh that is not a big part of the decision making process. Well now that I think about this stuff all the time - I care to put this out there. If the price of fuel doubles in three years - so the cost commuting gets into the ballpark of 6K per year for fuel alone - (with a guaranteed increase in cost year over year as we run out of oil) - what kind of math does one do when calculating the savings of buying on the outskirts of town compared to the urban core. Then take into consideration that the trend is not to build small homes in the country - but rather large energy hungry homes within subdivisions. Well add all that up and then energy becomes a big deal - perhaps even a deal breaker.

I can tell you 20 years ago, back when I had hair, this was not what we talked about, planned for, or even considered. I would have to reach out to my old profs today and ask if it is part of the curriculum and I really hope that it is.

On a side note - if you are interested in this kind of thing - take a look at this awesome presentation by James Howard Kunstler: The tragedy of suburbia.

Again not trying to be preachy - trying to find the right tone - and hoping others want to join in on the conversation.

Cheers - Eric
PS - This post was inspired by this post - Suburbs Are Hurting From Birth Rates and Gas Prices

The shear craziness of that statement makes me wonder how anyone can believe anything analysts and experts say - IEF 2008: OIL AND GAS WILL LAST DECADES. When we started PickupPal in the fall of 2007, (some 8 months ago), Oil was creeping up to the $80 a barrel and at that time the news reports were all saying this was an anomaly - would not last - back to $60 a barrel in no time. Well today we are a handful of loose change away from $120 a barrel and again the rhetoric comes out - the claims that this is a blip and that we will always find ways to get more oil. Now as anyone who knows me can attest - I am not a rocket scientist but I am pretty sure that there are few smart engineers working on the riddle - how do we find more cheap oil? My guess is they have been working on this one since the 70’s and still no answer. When I talk with friends and say I think by 2010 oil will be $200 a barrel and that gas will be $7.00 a gallon they all think I have lost my mind - have I? When we were researching the RCOD we studied traditional calculations on the cost of ownership of a vehicle and the AAA (American Automobile Association) - came up with this statement - “AAA estimates that new-car driver will have $8,121 in ownership costs for a car driven 15,000 miles per year, up from $7,823 a year ago.” One of the biggest points where increases in costs will occur will be the price of fuel - what do we do when fuel is twice what is is now? right now 15,000 miles costs approximately 3K and when gas is $7 a gallon it will be 7K - where does one find the extra 4K per year - perhaps the analyst’s will stroke everyone a cheque?

Bad news is never a welcomed thing - however ignoring where we are heading is a dangerous game to play and just because someone with a tie on tells you that there is nothing to worry about does not mean a lot to me.

Cheers - Eric
P.S. Not sure about this rant but I just wanted to get it out there.