We have looked at so many ways to cut waste around the house, but what about transport costs? They can add up, in the form of repairs, tyres, petrol, brake pads! All of this can be limited and following these steps will help you maintain a safer drive as well as a more fuel efficient one!
Accelerate gently
Sudden acceleration is so good at burning fuel and can really zap your tank immediately. So where possible anticipate the change in speed and get ready to gently accelerate.
maintain a steady speed
Sharp braking and sharp acceleration can be indicators of an erratic driving style and can sometimes be used to consider insurance. Companies like confused.com offer discounts to drivers willing to use a black box. This would immediately indicate that this makes smooth drivers safer drives. However if you do not speed up to slow down again you are actually driving at lower revs and are more fuel efficient as well.
anticipate traffic
This involves looking further ahead than just the car in front of you. The classic example of this is when you are sort of rolling to a stop in a long queue. You can look forward and see if they all have their brake lights on as well. If they do roll to a stop and turn off your engine. If they are speeding up and the distance in between each car is increasing you can prepare to slow, but not stop fully. I use this tactic to stop completely in all of this Summer holidays traffic. I hate that other drivers sit with their engines running, but that is why I am so fuel efficient.
coast to decelerate
Ideally suited to uphill stops. You come off the accelerator and let the engine do the braking. This can sometimes be quicker if you shift down a gear at the same time. When you do this it is more fuel efficient because it takes no drain on the brakes and is a smooth way to slow down.
keep the excess weight in your car down
This is not me telling you to lose weight! However carrying around a few pairs of spare shoes plus a couple of extra coats, oil for the car, screen wash etc is not a good idea. So keep it light and keep cleaning it out!
To be more fuel efficient – avoid high speeds
This links very well to maintaining a steady speed. A slower car burns less fuel and is therefore more fuel efficient. However that is not to say that the high speed for my car is the high speed for your car, so make sure you check your cars optimum speed.
We have looked at way to Cut down on household water use, as well as Zero Waste No Spend Kitchen Wins. So why not look at cutting the costs of fuel for your car?