Honda Insight Hybrid Wins Hypermiling Competition with 124 Miles per Gallon
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.30.08
Cars & Transportation
Hypermiling in a Honda Insight hybrid car photo
This year's Tour to the Shore fuel economy competition had the goal of beating the previous record: 75 MPG in a Honda Insight hybrid. That might seem hard to do, unless you are Jack Martin, a member of the Triad Electric Vehicle Association in Burlington and teacher of Sustainable Transportation at Appalachian State University. He squeezed out 124 miles out of one gallon of gasoline in his unmodified Insight hybrid (and he has one passenger).
He did it by using hypermiling tricks. More details below.
honda Insight Hybrid Car photo
List of Hypermiling Tricks
Hypermiling requires some dedication, but the basic principles are easy to learn:
* Pumping up your tires to the maximum rating on their sidewalls, which may be higher than levels recommended in car manuals. This reduces rolling resistance.
* Use engine oil of a low viscosity.
* A useful, but controversial, practice is drafting behind other vehicles on the highway to reduce aerodynamic drag. If the guy in front of you slams on brakes, you will need to see a surgeon to have that tailpipe removed from your head.
* Keep speeds down
* Accelerate gently
* Avoid excessive idling
* Remove cargo racks to also cut down on aerodynamic drag.
* Avoid unnecessary braking; coast to slow down.
King of Hypermilers
The unofficial "King of the Hypermilers" according to Jack Martin is Wayne Gerdes from Chicago. He drove "2,254 miles on a single 13.7-gallon tank of gas during the Honda Insight Marathon in Oklahoma last year." That's an average of 164.53 miles per gallon over the whole distance.
"Gerdes estimates that hypermiling has saved him $15,000 in fuel since he began the technique after the attacks of September 11, events that convinced him that U.S. national security was being undermined by its dependence on oil from the Middle East, and motivated him to reduce his own fuel consumption."
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.30.08
Cars & Transportation
Hypermiling in a Honda Insight hybrid car photo
This year's Tour to the Shore fuel economy competition had the goal of beating the previous record: 75 MPG in a Honda Insight hybrid. That might seem hard to do, unless you are Jack Martin, a member of the Triad Electric Vehicle Association in Burlington and teacher of Sustainable Transportation at Appalachian State University. He squeezed out 124 miles out of one gallon of gasoline in his unmodified Insight hybrid (and he has one passenger).
He did it by using hypermiling tricks. More details below.
honda Insight Hybrid Car photo
List of Hypermiling Tricks
Hypermiling requires some dedication, but the basic principles are easy to learn:
* Pumping up your tires to the maximum rating on their sidewalls, which may be higher than levels recommended in car manuals. This reduces rolling resistance.
* Use engine oil of a low viscosity.
* A useful, but controversial, practice is drafting behind other vehicles on the highway to reduce aerodynamic drag. If the guy in front of you slams on brakes, you will need to see a surgeon to have that tailpipe removed from your head.
* Keep speeds down
* Accelerate gently
* Avoid excessive idling
* Remove cargo racks to also cut down on aerodynamic drag.
* Avoid unnecessary braking; coast to slow down.
King of Hypermilers
The unofficial "King of the Hypermilers" according to Jack Martin is Wayne Gerdes from Chicago. He drove "2,254 miles on a single 13.7-gallon tank of gas during the Honda Insight Marathon in Oklahoma last year." That's an average of 164.53 miles per gallon over the whole distance.
"Gerdes estimates that hypermiling has saved him $15,000 in fuel since he began the technique after the attacks of September 11, events that convinced him that U.S. national security was being undermined by its dependence on oil from the Middle East, and motivated him to reduce his own fuel consumption."
