Hypermiling madness

By: Dan Keegan

Date: Wednesday, 11. June 2008

Google "hypermiling" and the name Wayne Gerdes pops up top of the list. In fact Gerdes is credited with coining the term, which describes fuel-saving driving techniques he began developing not long after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Now, with gas prices soaring over $4 a gallon in the U.S., the hypermilers are making news. A few weeks ago, when CNN's Investigative Reports did a special on fuel prices, correspondent Miles O'Brien called on Gerdes for a hypermiling demo.

The segment starts off with Gerdes pushing his Honda Accord into motion in his driveway rather than use the starter motor. That saves a micro-amount of fuel - not enough for s serious dint in your pocket book but an amount that counts when you're competing with other Hypermilers to boast the best fuel consumption.

Minutes later, O'Brien is being flung sideways and CNN's camera goes flying as Gerdes pulls a couple of 'G' speeding through a corner - he hates the waste of energy that braking represents. Out on the highway, Gerdes is not really part of the traffic flow. He does his own thing, sometimes exasperating, or even angering, his fellow road users.

The anger doesn't bother Gerdes. In the world of hypermiling, he's a superstar. He won the Madison, Wisconsin Hybridfest MPG Challenge in 2006, squeezing 150 mpg from a modified Honda Insight. Second place was taken by Mike Dabrowski of CT with 121.9 mpg, also in a modified Insight. Gerdes was 2nd in the same competition in 2007, with 145 mpg. The winner got 168!

Gerdes passion for fuel scrooging is supported by the thoroughness of a scientist and military-style planning . His web site at Cleanmpg.com has a wealth of driving tips and technical information reminiscent of Formula One racing.

The anti-social side of hypermiling

We don't call it the 'highway traffic system' for nothing. The system works well when all its parts work together, when drivers cooperate, communicate, and above all, stick to the commonly accepted rules and understandings that help traffic flow.

Now consider this excerpt from a blog by Jake Fisher of Consumer Reports:

The other day I'm following a Honda Insight hybrid driving rather quickly down a hill. But as the hill flattens and we start climbing another hill, the little Insight slows down. As we approach an intersection, I see the light has just turned green and I'm sure we'll make it. But we're still climbing and the Insight is continues to shed speed. Finally, the light turns yellow and then red. But instead of stopping, the Insight drives right through the red light and continues puttering down the road.

Everyday traffic thrives on flow - the kind of flow that comes from drivers knowing what to expect from one another (for the most part, anyway). If drivers and other road users are operating from the same script, the negotiations in traffic are harmonious, safer and, hopefully, efficient.

Put a hypermiler in the middle of that and everyone has to adjust. Now imagine thousands of hypermilers, maybe hundreds of thousands if gas prices keep rising, and imagine what traffic might be like. Hypermilers need to think of the consequences of their behavior and be a part of the traffic system, not just their own system.

Hypermiling in its extreme form is not just dangerous, it's antisocial, and it could reduce the efficiency of highway transportation significantly.

On the other hand, in its milder form it shouldn't be any different from the kinds of driving techniques taught on training programs throughout North America for decades: anticipation, smoothness, cooperation. Well-trained, highly-skilled drivers are almost invisible in the system and are very easy on car, brakes and fuel.

Failed policies

The fact that hypermiling is as issue at all is a symptom of failed policies. Limits to oil supplies have been known for decades but warnings of trouble ahead were not heeded, particularly in North America.

Energy crises during the 1970s were a warning shot across the bows of the gas-guzzling nations of the world. First the '73 crisis, when Arab oil-producing countries cut back on shipments to the west in protest against Israel's Yom Kippur war, and then the 1979 crisis when the Western-supported Shah of Iran was deposed, rattled the energy confidence of the developed world.

The United States, with its auto dependence and addiction to behemoth, gas-guzzling cars, was particularly hard hit. A nation-wide 55 mph speed limit and a rapid shift to more economical cars (mainly imports) were lingering effects of these crises.

However, the lessons of gas rationing and "no gas today" signs on fuel pumps were soon forgotten as prices dropped off again. Incredibly, by the mid 1980s the gas-guzzling mentality had returned. The national speed limit was raised again in the early '80s. and speeds returned to normal.

The Energy Policy Conservation Act, which was enacted into law by the U.S. Congress in 1975, established Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards which were intended to push auto manufacturers towards the design and production of more economical automobiles. Fuel economy standards were established for cars and light trucks.

Unfortunately, the 'light truck' standards became a way out for manufacturers and consumers hooked on size and power. Minivans and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs), officially classed as light trucks because they are built on light truck chassis, became fashionable. Power and size was back!

According to a 2004 Congressional Research Service paper by energy policy specialist Brent Yaccobucci light trucks accounted for about 20% of the U.S. new automobile market in 1980 but by 2001 this figure was just over 50%.

Worse still, notes Yaccobucci, "While the number of passenger cars sold each year in the United States has decreased somewhat since 1980, the number of light trucks sold has more than tripled, from 2.2 million in 1980 to 8.7 million in 2001."

In fact, he adds, "In 2001, SUV sales alone (at 4.0 million) nearly doubled total light truck sales for 1980. As a result, the total fuel usage and emissions attributable to these vehicles has increased."

Finding solutions

For all those drivers out there stuck with gas guzzling pickups, minivans and SUVs, tough times are ahead. The price of gasoline may drop back a bit in the near future but it looks like in the long term this is it.

It may be tougher on North Americans than on other developed countries such as Europe, where even higher prices have been in place for years. Gasoline in Germany is currently about $9 a gallon, more than twice our $4. But then Germans, and Europeans in general, have for years been accustomed to gas sipping vehicles and the option of excellent public transportation systems. In other words, they're organized for it.

Americans, on the other hand, have built their automobiles, their cities and their entire lives around cheap fuel. A world of 4-, 5-, and 6-dollar gasoline is likely to be very traumatic, especially in tough economic times. Imagine the devastation to the livelihood of a single parent who has to hold down two or three low-paying jobs to get by, and then has to commute a few hundred miles per week on expensive fuel.

The suburban sprawl that has dominated city development for the past half century was driven by dreams of economical home ownership far from urban centers. Now the suburban dream could become a nightmare for millions of families who have invested in homes at the expense of a lengthy commute.

There isn't going to be any easy solution to this energy crisis. Where automobiles are concerned the future holds a spectrum of partial solutions ranging from more fuel efficient vehicles to alternative fuels, road pricing (tolls), congestion taxes, car pooling, alternative transportation and more efficient driving. Technology will play a major role in fuel management, logistical planning, traffic management and navigation.

However, hopefully, drivers won't have to resort to hypermiling tactics in order to survive financially.

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