100+ hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics

[milesgallon.com]

but at the expense of motorcyclists and poorly or non-illuminated road users who will become less noticeable, even in daylight.

I'm in Finland with mandatory DRL outside of densely populated areas and I've noticed that when every car has the lights on if there's one that forgot the lights it's almost invisible as the brain has adjusted to look only for the lights, not the cars.

I have tried to train myself to wait until I "can see that the road is empty" instead of just checking that "I can't see any cars" when entering.

Also when I'm on the motorcycle I use the high beam at daytime as that makes me a little bit more visible.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by milesgallon.com

I'm in Finland with mandatory DRL outside of densely populated areas and I've noticed that when every car has the lights on if there's one that forgot the lights it's almost invisible as the brain has adjusted to look only for the lights, not the cars.

That's another danger lurking beyond DRL.
It's not because something is made mandatory that everyone will instantly comply with the regulations.

You've become so used to the headlights, that you have trouble noticing a big car without lights ... but what with a much smaller (motor)cyclist or pedestrian without lights ?

I have tried to train myself to wait until I "can see that the road is empty" instead of just checking that "I can't see any cars" when entering.

Keep it up !
We see with our brains, not with our eyes.
The right (open) mindset will reduce inattentional blindness.

Also when I'm on the motorcycle I use the high beam at daytime as that makes me a little bit more visible.

So you're compensating for a situation that you feel is endangering you.

At least in Belgium, it's a traffic offense to use the high beam during daytime.
The high beam will make your bike more visible, but at the same time it will make it harder to judge its speed properly, so be aware of that ...


I don't know if it's legal in Finland, but I've had very good results with yellow lights on my motorcycle instead of the common white.

[hackish]

On the traffic light issue... There is a large cost for more intelligent lights as they need to talk to each other. There is some engineering expense associated with programming them and modelling the traffic flow. If you look at some of the math models for traffic a lot of it comes down to managing it all as a system and the green light of an individual comes last to that.

In other words, you're just an individual car in a big system and you don't matter. It would appear that you'd be better off with a green light in this otherwise empty intersection but the traffic system still has to be generalized enough to work in more than one case - multiple cars.

I like the idea of hybrids that shut themselves off at intersections. It uses the existing infrastructure but still solves the idle pollution problem.

-Michael

[Frank Lee]

The local stoplights are timed for maximum inconvenience. If one were to try to make the maximum number of vehicles stop and wait for the maximum amount of time, they couldn't do a better job.

But "progress" i.e. blind devotion to the growth model demands that the population keep increasing and the sprawl keep increasing with it. Where once a person could go from Point A to Point B with no stops, they now have to stop and wait at a dozen lights. Has a wonderful effect on efficiency no?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

The local stoplights are timed for maximum inconvenience.

Essentially, that's what the local politician responsible for traffic in the EU capital Brussels said when questioned about the silly timing of traffic-lights:

The bigger plan is to discourage people from travelling to the city.

[Frank Lee]

Huh. A politician wants to discourage people from coming, yet the govt pays people to reproduce. Interesting.

[2007 ion2]

#44's order of efficiency seems counter intuitive.

I feel instead of:

1) coasting in neutral, engine off (ie. roll to a stop);
2) coasting in neutral, engine idling;
3) regenerative coasting (hybrid vehicles)
4) regenerative braking (hybrid vehicles)
5) coasting in "deceleration fuel cut-off" mode (in gear, above a certain engine RPM)
6) conventional friction braking (non-hybrid or hybrid)

it should be

1) coasting in neutral, engine off (ie. roll to a stop);
2) coasting in "deceleration fuel cut-off" mode (in gear, above a certain engine RPM)
3) regenerative coasting (hybrid vehicles)
4) regenerative braking (hybrid vehicles)
5) coasting in neutral, engine idling
6) conventional friction braking (non-hybrid or hybrid)

fuel cut off is much more efficient than idling, as a matter of fact, the only thing that isn't, is conventional braking. when in fuel cutoff, the engine is essentially off, and most cars are supporting this feature, nowadays. also, how is coasting idling more efficient than regenerative breaking?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by 2007 ion2

it should be

2) coasting in "deceleration fuel cut-off" mode (in gear, above a certain engine RPM)

fuel cut off is much more efficient than idling
also, how is coasting idling more efficient than regenerative breaking?

It's not.

Coasting is the main thing that got my mileage up since joining ecomodder.
Reducing weight etc will have helped, but coasting really was the major change. I was using DFCO a lot before, and quite good at it I can say, downshifting and all that.

The problem with DFCO is that you effectively brake using the engine.
That means you're not getting anywhere near as far with DFCO as with coasting - even when it's engine-on.

It's simply amazing how far your car will coast.
I try to coast up to every necessary speed reduction, and have to start from rather far out.

[mataap]

Fun list, thanks.

With regard to #33: sometimes there are other clues to the phase of the traffic lights. At night, and sometimes in the day, you can see scattered light on the shielding cowls on the cross lights. Sometimes you can see reflections of the cross lights on nearby signage, and even other cars. My daily commute route has an intersection that is hidden by a crest, so I can't see the traffic lights until I get over the crest. But I can tell what colour they are because I can see the reflected light off bus stop advertising and parked cars.

I am optimising on a different criterion, minimal running cost. This will include maximising my fuel efficiency at times, but it also includes avoiding speeding fines and prolonging brake life. I have a big downhill run on the way home, and I don't like dragging my brakes on it to hold to the speed limit, so I sacrifice some fuel economy by engine braking. Plus the cops often have a speed camera there, so coasting is out.

And I still don't find the parking and orbiting thing very clear. Looks like the aim is to maximize mpg by slightly increasing the distance travelled on fuel already burnt?

[euromodder]

Welcome to ecomodder

Originally Posted by mataap

I have a big downhill run on the way home, and I don't like dragging my brakes on it to hold to the speed limit, so I sacrifice some fuel economy by engine braking.

If your car cuts the fuel flow when the accelerator is released (DFCO), you don't really sacrifice fuel economy as it won't use any going down - but you won't reach the terminal velocity that gets you further up the next hill though.

Hypermiling should never reduce road-safety.