Giving my first "Hypermiling Speech" on Wednesday. Any ideas/input?

[CAPTAIN CHAOS]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

People only think they drive 65 (or 75, or whatever). That's not a reality, but a target speed that gets hit for brief times under ideal circumstances. The rest of the time is spent accelerating to it, hitting the brakes when someone changes lanes badly, accelerating again, hitting the brakes when an on ramp comes in, etc. Your target speed is never going to be your average speed. Commutes on the highway are really just stop & go at higher speeds. Adjusting the target speed downward has the stated benefits that lower speed gets you, but it's also attainable and predictable- your drive will be smoother and actually at your target speed if your target speed doesn't require you to fight your way through the crowd.

....

A LOT of truth here and certainly worth mentioning. Driving steady at a slightly slower speed will cost you next to nothing verses the up and down speed game. There have been more instances than I can count where a 'rabbit' blows by me, then get's caught up in traffic and slams on the brakes, then speeds off again, then has to stop for that left-turner, then stops on the gas again, and all the while I cruise along never having to vary my speed more than 5mph for changing traffic and after 10-20mi of this I end up where the 'rabbit' is only 15-20sec. behind. The actual 'cost' of driving slower is probably only like 25% of what the 'math' says it will be because you are often time not able to maintain that higher target speed due to outside influences. The difference is often greater, or sometimes reversed (slower = LESS time), when you start talking in-town as timing lights and setting a maintainable pace can actually SAVE time over the course of a trip.

[JRMichler]

Here's an outline of what I'd like to say in a similar situation:

Get their attention: "There are ways to drive to work in the same time while using less fuel."

That leads into timing traffic lights, different routes, DWL, and mild coasting at exits and stop signs. Also timing stop signs: "If there's six cars backed up at a stop sign, back off the gas and try to arrive as the last car is leaving. Burn less gas and get to the stop sign at the same time".

The close by something like: "I have discussed techniques that decrease your fuel costs without changing the time it takes to drive. There are also more advanced techniques that save more fuel at the expense of time. Those are a topic for another time".

Keep in mind that your target audience generally believes that the only way to save gas is "drive like a grandma", annoy everybody else on the road, and take forever to get there.

[Eastwood]

I always like to also relate to those who consider themselves to be "performance minded".

Ask the question, "What is performance?" When we're dealing with cars, is this how fast it goes? How well it handles corners? How quickly it can accelerate? All of those are going to be standard on the car regardless of who is driving because those are the results of the construction of the car. You could mention bolt-on performance if you want. Depends on the audience whether or not they might be offended by that.**

Then bring up the point of what about the driver? Is performance a measure of the car or the driver behind the wheel? When we're talking about efficiency, fuel-economy, hypermiling, ecomodding, or whatever name you want to give it, THAT type of performance comes down to the driver, I think (of course, some car engines are more efficient than others). Then you can really dive off into the gaming aspect of it as some people have wonderfully and skillfully posted above me.

Separate from hypermiling, on aero-mods (all of our underpanels, airdams, lowering, diffusers, boattails, spoilers, etc), I like to make the point that by making aero-mods, my engine works less than the same car without aero-mods, and thus can put out more power and speed going forward instead of wasting that power fighting the air resistance created by increased speeds. Or as I like to say, more bang for your boooooooost! (my car has a tiny turbo lol)

Hope you didn't bite off more than you can chew and spit out in 4 - 6 minutes!!

**My disclaimer: yes, of course, driving at high speeds and not crashing (assuming no outside factors) requires great skill (performance) of the driver and the car. The car has to have the parts to go super fast and the driver must have the skills to "perform" at such speeds.

[j12piprius]

The more you can speak without using any notes, the better.

Keep it simple and have fun.

[OG VX]

This stuff is great guys! Thanks so much!

[niky]

I like Fat Charlie's example. And to note:

I'm a racer. As in, a red mist, "me first" racer of the worst kind. At least, I was, in my younger days (emphasis on "er", haven't hit the big midlife crisis yet!). What really got me into hypermiling... or, at least, not driving like an absolute idiot... is the observation that I could race the other guy without actually speeding. Keeping to a target speed and observing the "rabbits", seeing where they get stuck or get through easily, helps you decide which lane to take in order to preserve momentum. This means you use less gas without having to lose time, and that idiot tailgating the minivan at 80 mph gets to see your smug face as you pull in to the toll booth / exit ramp before he does.

Once you get used to it, preserving momentum becomes a game in itself, and eventually it just clicks that if you drive a bit slower, it gets even easier to preserve it.

[Fat Charlie]

The rabbits may hit a higher top speed, but they don't get to work any sooner- and more of their work time is spent earning gas money, so overall that's a loss.

[Daox]

How did the speech go?

[OG VX]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

The rabbits may hit a higher top speed, but they don't get to work any sooner- and more of their work time is spent earning gas money, so overall that's a loss.

This is awesome.

Originally Posted by Daox

How did the speech go?

Unfortunately, our meeting room got double-booked, so the meeting was cancelled. We plan to meet this coming Tuesday. So, I have a few more days to prepare

[j12piprius]

Have you given the speech?