The cost of hypermiling

[jamesqf]

So when did hypermiling (or driving for good mpg) get to be JUST about driving slower? I don't drive particularly slowly, at least on 2-lane roads with curves. (On a freeway I'm probably going at the same speed as the semi I'm following: where's the fun in going fast if there're no curves?) But I get pretty good mpg (avg 70.2 over the last 5 years/75K miles) because I drive smoothly, use gravity to go faster on the downhills, don't race up to red lights, etc.

[ttoyoda]

Most people calculate "what their time is worth" by their hourly or weekly rate. I don't see anybody calculating it on what they get to keep after taxes. Finding out that you are keeping only 50-60% of what you think "your time is worth" might be a wake-up call in more ways than one.

[JoeBob]

Originally Posted by ttoyoda

Most people calculate "what their time is worth" by their hourly or weekly rate. I don't see anybody calculating it on what they get to keep after taxes. Finding out that you are keeping only 50-60% of what you think "your time is worth" might be a wake-up call in more ways than one.

That's because taxes are a fixed expense, like mortgage, car insurance, etc. It was already figured in.

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted by JoeBob

That's because taxes are a fixed expense, like mortgage, car insurance, etc. It was already figured in.

Taxes are not exactly fixed, earn more, pay a higher percentage. Also, I only get to buy stuff with my after tax money, so my decision process on wether to buy something uses my after tax hourly rate. This makes many things seem more unneccessary, like speeding! By hypermiling I do only save $3 a day and that works out to like 10min of work but its also better for me and the environment and I get to brag to my Honda snob friends that my old carppy neon is spanking them in fuel economy
Ian

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by gascort

I was going to mention the safety aspect as well

Consider another safety aspect: if you're hypermiling, you're paying attention to your driving, not e.g. yakking on a cell phone. Don't have an exact figure, but an awful lot of auto accidents seem to be caused by drivers simply not paying attention.