Can You Make Your Car More Fuel Efficient?

Did you know that a car driving at 80mph instead of 70mph uses 10% more fuel?

Or that a car driving 70mph instead of 50mph uses 15% more?

That’s a fair amount of petrol or diesel!

I've been looking at fuel efficiency and found out that frequent rapid acceleration and hard braking can increase fuel consumption by approximately 40%. That means the more you need to brake and accelerate again, the more fuel you’ll end up using so try to drive as consistently and efficiently as you can by trying to anticipate the road ahead. Makes sense doesn't it?

Also, try to keep a close eye on your RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) as

revving the car isn’t energy-efficient and will cost you more; for petrol vehicles, your optimum range is usually between 1,500 and 2,500 rpm and for diesels, it’s somewhere between 1,300 rpm and 2,000 rpm.

Now let's talk tyres...

Making sure your tyres are the right tread depth can affect your fuel consumption too. Research shows that if your tyres are under-inflated by 20% (or around 6psi) then 3% more fuel is used.

Another area to consider is weight and aerodynamics. The more aerodynamic your car is the more efficient it will be and you car is also more efficient if the load is lighter so don’t have a boot full of unnecessary stuff. This is especially important for us when prepping for events to unload the car promptly or not leave all the kids stuff in the car for months on end!

My next tip might seem a strange one...

Step away from the air conditioning! Using the air con in your car, especially when you’re travelling at lower speeds, definitely affects your fuel consumption.

Of course, as an eco business I have to say: ditch the car! Maybe not totally but if your journey is a short one could you walk rather than drive? Is the journey necessary? Could you carshare or use public transport?

We're certainly becoming more conscious of fuel use from both an economical and ecological perspective and it might not be something you have thought about before buy these numbers really do stack up!