GILBERT, Ariz. — After a 29-mile jaunt from his Phoenix office to his home here, Louis Hudgin proclaimed his gas mileage "pitiful."
He averaged just 88.3 miles per gallon.
Most drivers would take a victory lap if they managed to squeeze that kind of mileage out of increasingly precious gasoline. Even on this, a bad day, Hudgin coaxed 28 mpg more out of his 2000 Honda Insight hybrid than its federal highway mpg rating.
Hudgin's disappointment — he usually averages about 100 mpg this time of year — stems from his pride in being no ordinary driver.
He's a hypermiler, part of a loose-knit legion of commuters who've made racking up seemingly unattainable mpg an art. And a sport.
Hypermilers practice such unorthodox techniques as coasting for blocks with their car's engine turned off, driving far below speed limits on the freeway, pumping up tire pressure far beyond car and tire makers' recommendations and carefully manipulating the gas pedal to avoid fuel-burning excess.
They endure not only occasional honks from other motorists angry at their slow-poke ways, but intentional discomforts, as well. Like keeping the air conditioning off and windows barely cracked on a more than 90-degree day. Or parking in the boondocks at shopping centers so they can motor head-first toward the exit rather than backing out of a space.
Just about anything for an extra one, two, maybe even four mpg. With their odd fixation and log-book scribbles obsessively tracking their mileage, the hypermiler community might in other times be typecast as tightwad eccentrics. But in an era of $4-plus-a-gallon gas, they're garnering increasing attention as driving superstars, even saviors of the planet.
"More power to them if that's important to them, and they are accomplishing a goal that also benefits society," says Ron Cogan, publisher of Green Car Journal.
Automakers are taking notice. Honda will install an instrument in a new hybrid it will roll out next year that cues drivers for gas-saving actions, such as when to ease off the accelerator, says spokesman Sage Marie.
Hypermilers share their triumphs and secrets on a handful of websites. They also gather in some cities as a subset of clubs for hybrid-car owners, which many now are.
Driving safety advocates laud some of their habits — but heap scorn on others.
"Probably the most beneficial aspect of hypermiling is its emphasis on a less aggressive approach," says Geoff Sundstrom, spokesman for AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association. "The downside of hypermiling is some of the techniques can be extremely dangerous."
Turning the engine off while coasting can, in some cars, leave the driver without power steering or brakes and allow the possibility that the steering wheel will lock up. Drivers can endanger themselves and others if they go too slow for the pace of traffic.
How about that urge to "draft" trucks — follow close behind for less wind resistance — on the interstate?
"There's another term for that. We call it tailgating," Sundstrom deadpans.
Safety first
Hudgin, a 56-year-old professional pilot, says serious hypermilers always put safety before mileage. Sure, he doesn't mind using a truck as a windbreak — but only, he says, if he can stay at least three seconds back.
During the afternoon drive with a reporter, he observes all traffic laws in a mix of city and highway driving.
But having to make a stop at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, grabbing a quick taco at a Mexican restaurant and getting stuck in rush-hour traffic on Interstate 10 take their toll on his usual mpg.
Normally, Hudgin says, he can roll up 100 mpg in warm weather, about 90 in the winter. But on this day, the kiss of mileage death came when his hybrid's battery started recharging, which causes the hybrid's gasoline engine to work harder and burn more gas. Those few minutes on the freeway slashed his mileage temporarily to a paltry 48 mpg, according to the car's computer. That's 12 below the two-seat, three-cylinder Insight's EPA mpg rating for highway driving.
Hudgin is not new to the mileage game. When Hudgin was young, an uncle drove a 1955 Morris Minor, a small English car, to Canada and bragged about 50 mpg. "I thought, 'That's phenomenal.' And it made an impression on me."
Hudgin has owned a series of compact vehicles known for their little engines and big mpg, such as a Subaru Justy and Chevy Sprint. He had a long commute, he says, and needed dependable and cheap cars.
Some mileage tricks he found himself. "I started going the back way, slowed down from 55 to 45 miles per hour and saw an increase of 16 mpg," says Hudgin, who flies executive planes for the state of Arizona.
Slow going on the byways tacked 19 minutes onto his commute, but he says he didn't mind.
In 2001, he bought his then-slightly-used Insight, an odd-looking car that was the first hybrid sold in the USA, though in limited numbers. It got the highest EPA mileage rating of any model until it was discontinued. He got 59.6 mpg from his first tank of gas.
Not bad, he says, but around 2005, he discovered the world of hypermiling, including Internet sites such as CleanMPG.com, Greenhybrid.com and several others where hypermilers share mileage tactics.
Read More...
EcoFlip provides local green classifieds for green products like natural sunscreens!
Looking for a job? BizzFlip is helping professionals find jobs, venturel capital, commercial real estate and businesses for sale!