Remember when I told you (yesterday) my awesome story of downsizing our car by trading in the minivan for a Prius?
Well, something else happened as a result of driving a Prius.
I not only saved money on the car and the gas it uses (because it’s a hybrid and smaller), but I started saving even more money through hypermiling.
What the heck is hypermiling?
It’s basically driving mindfully as f*ck to use less gas (and save money! yeah baby!).
Or according to a quick google search:
hy·per·mil·ingthe practice of making adjustments to a vehicle or using driving techniques that will maximize the vehicle’s fuel economy.
My use of hypermiling:
- I don’t speed.
- I use air conditioning and/or open windows wisely.
- I pay attention to all cars and what they might do so as to plan my own speed/braking accordingly.
- I’m slower to accelerate whenever I can.
- I eliminate wasteful trips and plan multi-destination outings.
- Walking when possible.
If we all hypermiled, then we’d have fewer car crashes because it really makes you pay attention at all times. For example, the second I look at my GPS I realize that, dammit, the light ahead turned red and I should’ve already been coasting!
High-Five for the Prius in teaching me about hypermiling, because a Prius makes it easy to hypermile. The gauges let me know how many miles per gallon I’m using at all stages of driving so I can make smarter choices in how I accelerate and brake. I also get to see when my car is running on just the battery which saves gas.
I wish I could get a picture of my dashboard featuring my hypermiling in action, but well, that’d take me out of hypermiling mode and um be dangerous. We’ll settle for post-driving pics.
Yes, it takes me a tiny bit longer to get everywhere. Yes, people aren’t pleased when I’m a bit slower to accelerate after a red light (not dangerously though, duh). Yes, people would prefer I go beyond the speed limit and break the law.
But you know what?
Fuck ’em. I’m hypermiling and hypermiling is SEXY! I think of the money and lives I’m saving by doing this. A richer ($) and better driver? Sign me up.
And, as I mentioned before, it amps up my mindfulness muscle. As a person who meditates, I’m all over that.
As mentioned earlier, a tip for hypermiling that I practice: Combining trips for things. (I use to suck at that, but now I’m a pro.)
There was a time not too long ago, that if I ran out of eggs, I would just drive to whole foods. It was only 6 miles away. Big deal (or so I thought). I didn’t think twice about it. You know what though? It is a big deal. It allllllllllll adds up (time, money, wear on the car, gas, risk etc).
Nowadays, I stretch out the time between trips as long as possible. I create a list of places and things I need to do and when it gets to the point where I gotta go somewhere, then I strategize to make the most of my trip. Silly to some, but when I realize I can go somewhere and hit two (or three – gasp!) spots in the same trip… well., I jump up-and-down, clapping my hands while squealing.
Cuz that’s a win!
(I’m still trying to talk Greg into selling the Mercedes.)
