Time isn't important to me, now that I'm retired. You working stiffs should realize that $7 or $8 an hour isn't all that factors into the equation. You're giving most of that money to enemies of America - Venezuela, Iran, Russia, China, etc. You're risking a $400 or higher speeding ticket. Your risk of getting into an accident goes up about 25%, and when you have that accident, your risk of serious injury goes up about 50%. All that to save (on most commutes) about ten minutes.
Most of the money is going to Canada, our #1 oil supplier.
You have a point with the accident risk and speeding tickets. But why not split the difference and drive the speed limit?
If you're going 62 in the middle of nowhere, fine. But with enough traffic, you are messing up normal traffic flow and increasing risk and fuel use for other people. I don't know what all the impacts are of a single hypermiler putting along below the speed limit, causing other people to brake, change lanes, pass, etc-- but it sounds like a good study for a traffic engineer.
You're right. I was using 5 year old data. The US needs to achieve something like a 47 mpg average for its automobile fleet to become energy independent. I just hate to see people pissing away our independence to gain a few minutes in a day. But that's my hangup.
As for going the limit, it's a maximum limit. A single hypermiler doesn't slow traffic any more than any slow moving truck out there, and there are plenty of those. FWIW, most traffic is already illegally exceeding the limit, and should be slowed down - if not by hypermilers, then by law enforcement. They don't have a right to speed.
__________________
Darrell
Boycotting Exxon since 1989, BP since 2010
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? George Carlin
Mean Green Toaster Machine
49.5 mpg avg over 53,000 miles. 176% of '08 EPA
Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi
Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg
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But what about those who consider hypermiling a sport? Then the time taken doesn't count since it was for doing something you enjoy.
I've read about a few FE races where to win you not only had to have low fuel consumption (per unit of weight), but also a short time for finishing the race. This is to keep people from taking all day to finish the race at 10mph. I could never find exactly how the winner is chosen based on time and fuel used, though.
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e·co·mod·ding: the art of turning vehicles into what they should be
What matters is where you're going, not how fast.
"... we humans tend to screw up everything that's good enough as it is...or everything that we're attracted to, we love to go and defile it." - Chris Cornell
As for going the limit, it's a maximum limit. A single hypermiler doesn't slow traffic any more than any slow moving truck out there, and there are plenty of those. FWIW, most traffic is already illegally exceeding the limit, and should be slowed down - if not by hypermilers, then by law enforcement. They don't have a right to speed.
As for going the limit, it's a maximum limit. A single hypermiler doesn't slow traffic any more than any slow moving truck out there, and there are plenty of those. FWIW, most traffic is already illegally exceeding the limit, and should be slowed down - if not by hypermilers, then by law enforcement. They don't have a right to speed.
That may be true legally, but the speed limits are (supposedly) tailored to the particular road. Sometimes they'll set the limit based on the speed some percentile of drivers use. Exercise your right to go below the speed limit in the midst of a lot of other drivers and you are obstructing traffic and reducing other peoples' efficiency. A 40000lb dump truck has no choice.
I can understand going slower than the flow if you're sticking to the speed limit, because you might have moral or legal reasons for not going over.
If you aren't blocking anybody, feel free to go 62. Sometimes I drive 60 in a 65 in the middle of the night on an empty highway.
If it's more than a two lane road, traffic can get around me. I'll go the PSL if there's traffic behind me on two lane roads, but no higher. I pull over if five cars stack up behind me. If they want to go faster than the PSL, that's their problem, not mine. I have no legal obligation to go the PSL unless it's a minimum PSL. The only ones I've ever seen are 45 mph minimum limits on some highways.
There've been plenty of times when 45 mph on a freeway is too fast - in fog, ice, blinding rain, ground blizzards, etc.
__________________
Darrell
Boycotting Exxon since 1989, BP since 2010
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? George Carlin
Mean Green Toaster Machine
49.5 mpg avg over 53,000 miles. 176% of '08 EPA
Best flat drive 94.5 mpg for 10.1 mi
Longest tank 1033 km (642 mi) on 10.56 gal = 60.8 mpg
Terrifying - '02 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe 90 day: 28.4 mpg (US)
Big Red - '13 Ford F-150 XLT 90 day: 18.96 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by winkosmosis
Most of the money is going to Canada, our #1 oil supplier.
True, but oil is a commodity with, to a first approximation, a single world market. The global price responds primarily to global demand. A better way to look at the economics of the situation is as a transfer between the oil producing countries and the oil consuming countries.
I doubt it will help, but the indisputable facts are there for her comparison. She has the gas receipts to turn in.
Can't ask for any more than that. Nice work!
I could probably go to a calendar and pinpoint the actual week - years ago - that I decided to switch from a typical driver's attitude in terms of speed, and became a right lane / back roads inhabitant. Aside from the obvious fuel savings, one of the biggest unexpected benefits I found was that it was a waaaaay more relaxing way to drive. Huge and unexpected stress reliever. Now I find leaving earlier and taking a longer trip would be worth it for that reason alone.
Everyone's got their reasons for choosing a particular speed vs. efficiency balance. Let's not get hung up on trying to "prove" which one's better.
True, but oil is a commodity with, to a first approximation, a single world market. The global price responds primarily to global demand. A better way to look at the economics of the situation is as a transfer between the oil producing countries and the oil consuming countries.
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