Keeping your carbon footprint low whilst cutting costs
Posted on July 20, 2018 by
Lookers, well known Motability dealers, have advice for you if you are looking to become an eco-friendlier driver. With this advice, you’ll be able to reduce your carbon footprint whilst keeping your fuel costs low.
Becoming a fuel-efficient driver
A resource that is proving to be quite costly at the moment is the amount of money people spend on fuel.
One of the ways that you can control this, is resisting the urge to roll down your car window. You may wonder why this is deemed such a big deal, but it is reported to cause your vehicle to drag more which leads to more energy consumption.
When you’re feeling exceptionally hot, the temptation to roll down your car window may particularly increase. However, a better alternative to giving in to this habit is to opt for a window tinting service. Window tints can effectively keep your car much cooler in the sun, with some reports indicating up to a 55% reduction in heat. By blocking a significant amount of sunlight and reducing the heat that enters through the windows, tints can lower the interior temperature.
This may be the better option as opposed to blasting the air conditioning, especially as this study has suggested that these systems can actually cause more energy to be used.
Another way in which you can control this is by changing gears at lower revs. For example, and you will prevent your car’s engine from having to overwork itself and deliver more power to achieve the request. It is advised that you change gears in a car when the rev counter hits 2,000rpm for diesel and 2,500rpm for petrol. Not only will this technique stop your engine from overworking itself, but it will also cut the risk of your car suffering from gearbox and clutch damage – two more unexpected costs that you’ll be wanting to avoid.
Maintain your speed throughout your journey
If you maintain a consistent speed throughout your journey, you will manage to save fuel. Using the example of a commercial driver working for a logistics company, it might be a familiar experience to see how fuel consumption is reduced in different ways by these companies (you could look here for reference). Among these are providing the right training for drivers, changing gears, regular maintenance of the vehicle, and maintaining a constant speed.
However, if you are driving your own vehicle, planning your route prior to your trip can be beneficial as you will be aware of what lies ahead of you. Slow your car down in advance instead of braking harshly when you know traffic lights are coming up, for instance, as well as reducing your speed so that you can continue to move through traffic instead of coming to a standstill and then accelerating from rest over and over again.
It’s not just high speeds which could be costing you precious fuel, however – you will want to avoid driving too slowly as well. This is because the most vehicle pollution is generated when a vehicle is being driven below the speed of 15mph.
Make the most of cruise control if your car has this feature, as it works to keep your car at a steady speed instead of fluctuating. In effect, it takes the hard work out of trying to become more fuel efficient when driving.
Take note that research has suggested that it could be costing you up to 25% more in fuel when you drive at 70mph than it does at 50mph, so bear this in mind the next time you’re on an open stretch of road.
Furthermore, you’ll be surprised to discover that harsh braking and acceleration could reduce your fuel efficiency by as much as 33%!
Hopefully with these tips, you’ll be able to quickly transform into an eco-driver and make huge fuel savings in the process.