Suggestion: Hypermiler rating system

[redorchestra]

I like the creativity of a good title rather than a percentage

[NachtRitter]

Great idea!

[redorchestra]

How about lyin'miler. V look at my badge today V

[D.O.G.]

Originally Posted by redorchestra

How about lyin'miler. V look at my badge today V

As it happens, I was looking at the top ten, when there was an unbelievable addition made to the list.
I thought we had a new hero amongst our ranks, then investigated who owned this amazing Kitten

[gone-ot]

"fudgin-miler"?

[Diesel_Dave]

10% above EPA = "I'm basically normal"
20% above EPA = "I kinda care"
50% above EPA = "When I tell people my mileage, they're impressed"
75% above EPA = "When I tell people my mileage, they don't believe me"
100% above EPA = "I'm completely and utterly obsessed"

[gone-ot]

...or, similarly:

micro-anal
mini-anal
midi-anal
quasi-anal
semi-anal
maxi-anal
ultra-anal
just-anal

[euromodder]

I don't like the %-over EPA as it derates European members when they use their NEDC values.

With Hägar I'm a measly 11% over NEDC, and don't even qualify as a hypermiler.
Yet beating the NEDC in day-to-day driving is already something in itself.
At the level I'm starting at - 47mpg NEDC - things get a wee bit harder to improve upon.

Can't recall who it was - PaleMelanesian ? - but someone calculated a conversion between EPA and NEDC using vehicles that are offered on either side of the Pond, and came up with this :

EPA(us mpg)= 205.87/EU(L/100km)
EU(L/100km)= 202.04/EPA(mpg)

That'd mean 41 mpg for Hägar, meaning I'd be 27 % over ... instead of only 11% .

[euromodder]

I'm favoring Wh/mile or Wh/km , as it's computed automatically based on type of fuel and the known averaged energy values of that type of fuel.

Then base any ranking off that value.

[Diesel_Dave]

Bottom line is that no system is completely fair.

There are pros and cons to every conceivable way. The whole "% over EPA" metric is designed to represent a "% over baseline". If everybody's real-world duty cycle was exactly the same as the EPA certification test, then we'd be all set. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

We have some people who run:
mostly highway
mostly city
in very warm climates
in cold climates
mostly short trips
mostly long trips
in mostly heavy traffic
in mostly light traffic
over very hilly terrain
over flat terrain
etc.

Not to mention, not all vehicles have EPA ratings (European vehicles, etc.)--even in the USA. My truck, for example, doesn't have an EPA rating because it's in too high of a weight class.

Not to mention that different people want to compare different things. For example, hypermiling skill, vehicle modifications, money saved, fuel saved, CO2 emissions, etc. Depending on what you're trying to compare, different metrics may make sense.

So, nothing is perfect, but IMO, % over EPA is probably about as good as we can hope for.