Quote:
Originally Posted by monroe74
What still bugs me is this statement: "... you will back off the accelerator and lose speed ... It's far more efficient than pressing the accelerator more and more to maintain speed on the way up a hill and then releasing it down the other side."
(From here, item #55: http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hy...ecodriving.php) |
That statement applies to traversing hills but not valleys. That is you climb first and coast second. Steep declines will accelerate the car providing free energy. Every slope has a point where gravity = Drag at a certain MPH. If you approach the decline slow, the hill will accelerate you more MPH until you hit the equilibrium and you waste less energy on the climbing side.