Driving Green Tips

Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Energy

Transportation accounts for 66% of U.S. oil use — mainly in the form of gasoline. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to improve gas mileage.

Driving Tips

• Idling gets you 0 miles per gallon. The best way to warm up a vehicle is to drive it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed. Anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
• Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration, and hard braking) wastes gas. It can lower your highway gas mileage 33% and city mileage 5%.
• Avoid high speeds. Driving 65 mph, rather than 75 mph, could cut your fuel economy by 15%.
• When you use overdrive gearing, your car’s engine speed goes down. This saves gas and reduces wear.
• Use air conditioning only when necessary.
• Clear out your car; extra weight decreases gas mileage.
• Reduce drag by placing items inside the car or trunk rather than on roof racks. A roof rack or carrier provides additional cargo space and may allow you to buy a smaller car. However, a loaded roof rack can decrease your fuel economy by 5%.
• Check into carpooling and public transit to cut mileage and car maintenance costs.

Car Maintenance Tips

• Use the grade of motor oil recommended by your car’s manufacturer. Using a different motor oil can lower your gasoline mileage by 1% to 2%.
• Keep tires properly inflated and aligned to improve your gasoline mileage by around 3.3%.
• Get regular engine tune-ups and car maintenance checks to avoid fuel economy problems due to worn spark plugs, dragging brakes, low transmission fluid, or transmission problems.
• Replace clogged air filters to improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and protect your engine.
• Combine errands into one trip. Several short trips, each one taken from a cold start, can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.

$ Long-Term Savings Tip

• Consider buying a highly fuel-efficient vehicle. A fuel- efficient vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or an alternative fuel vehicle and help the environment.