Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Share #1 Posted January 18, 2022 Too darn funny article on hyper milers. We had them for gas/diesel cars back in the early 00s, then we got them with hybrids, and now full EV. Some funny stuff for sure. For Maximum EV Efficiency, Stick to 25 Miles an Hour, Ignore Angry Drivers The Ford Mustang Mach-E electric car can hit 60 miles an hour from a standstill in 3.5 seconds. Fergal McGrath prefers to keep the needle stuck at a grandfatherly 40 mph. He’s after a different kind of bragging rights. Mr. McGrath is a hypermiler, someone who tries to coax as much mileage as possible from their fuel, whether gas or electric. The practice requires driving at a plodding pace to conserve energy, around 40 to 50 mph on a gas-powered vehicle. The efficiency sweet spot on an electric car can be agonizingly slow—sometimes below 30 mph. Road rage from other travelers comes with the territory, as Mr. McGrath saw when he and fellow hypermiler Kevin Booker set a Guinness World Record in July for lowest energy consumption traveling the length of Great Britain. They were able to squeeze 6.45 miles per kilowatt-hour from a Mach-E on their 27-hour, 840-mile trek, driving at an average 40 mph. “We had some honks and angry people behind us,” said Mr. McGrath, an engineer for an automotive testing and certification company who lives in Swindon, England. Hypermiling has been done for years with gas- and diesel-powered cars. The expanding EV market offers new opportunities to test the limits of efficiency. It’s also a tactic to dispel range anxiety: the fear of running out of power, far from a charging station. Car companies have enlisted some of the world’s foremost hypermilers for promotional road trips to plug the message that EVs won’t leave drivers stranded with drained batteries. Range anxiety is one of the top factors deterring potential buyers, according to consumer surveys. Many of the latest electrics have ranges of 250 to 300 miles. Some hypermilers have eked out twice that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #2 Posted January 18, 2022 FTR, good advice in general: Be gentle. Sharp acceleration and sudden braking is an efficiency killer. Look ahead. Anticipate red lights or traffic backups to avoid coming to complete stops. Use cruise control—but not on hills. In changing elevations, the driver should be able to achieve better efficiency than the car. Tap the brakes on downhills. That can maximize regenerative braking, a process that feeds energy back to the battery. Sweat it out. Use the A/C sparingly or not at all. Keep windows closed to prevent aerodynamic drag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Share #3 Posted January 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Razors Edge said: Too darn funny article on hyper milers. We had them for gas/diesel cars back in the early 00s, then we got them with hybrids, and now full EV. Some funny stuff for sure. For Maximum EV Efficiency, Stick to 25 Miles an Hour, Ignore Angry Drivers The Ford Mustang Mach-E electric car can hit 60 miles an hour from a standstill in 3.5 seconds. Fergal McGrath prefers to keep the needle stuck at a grandfatherly 40 mph. He’s after a different kind of bragging rights. Mr. McGrath is a hypermiler, someone who tries to coax as much mileage as possible from their fuel, whether gas or electric. The practice requires driving at a plodding pace to conserve energy, around 40 to 50 mph on a gas-powered vehicle. The efficiency sweet spot on an electric car can be agonizingly slow—sometimes below 30 mph. Road rage from other travelers comes with the territory, as Mr. McGrath saw when he and fellow hypermiler Kevin Booker set a Guinness World Record in July for lowest energy consumption traveling the length of Great Britain. They were able to squeeze 6.45 miles per kilowatt-hour from a Mach-E on their 27-hour, 840-mile trek, driving at an average 40 mph. “We had some honks and angry people behind us,” said Mr. McGrath, an engineer for an automotive testing and certification company who lives in Swindon, England. Hypermiling has been done for years with gas- and diesel-powered cars. The expanding EV market offers new opportunities to test the limits of efficiency. It’s also a tactic to dispel range anxiety: the fear of running out of power, far from a charging station. Car companies have enlisted some of the world’s foremost hypermilers for promotional road trips to plug the message that EVs won’t leave drivers stranded with drained batteries. Range anxiety is one of the top factors deterring potential buyers, according to consumer surveys. Many of the latest electrics have ranges of 250 to 300 miles. Some hypermilers have eked out twice that. I remember watching an episode of the BBC Series "Keeping Up Appearances" from the early-mid '90's where the main character's brother-in-law became a "Curb Crawler:" the British term for maxing mph in gasoline cars then. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Share #4 Posted January 18, 2022 When I first got my 2013 Honda Fit - my first over-30-mpg car - I tried to stick to 62 mph or less. Eventually I upped that to 70 and I do get a couple mpg less as the fueleconomy.gov graph predicts: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkpow Posted January 18, 2022 Share #5 Posted January 18, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeman564™ Posted January 18, 2022 Share #6 Posted January 18, 2022 41 minutes ago, MickinMD said: I remember watching an episode of the BBC Series "Keeping Up Appearances" from the early-mid '90's where the main character's brother-in-law became a "Curb Crawler:" the British term for maxing mph in gasoline cars then. I loved that show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrapr ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Share #7 Posted January 18, 2022 when i was in a Prius (work) I would sometimes draft a semi. Instant mileage would go from about 45-50 to 65 or so. Not all semi drivers were on board with this plan. I would move to the edge of the windstream to get more pull. This would put a headlight right into the rear view mirror Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #8 Posted January 18, 2022 1 minute ago, Scrapr said: when i was in a Prius (work) I would sometimes draft a semi. Instant mileage would go from about 45-50 to 65 or so. Not all semi drivers were on board with this plan. I would move to the edge of the windstream to get more pull. This would put a headlight right into the rear view mirror I've found great joy in watching the "instant mileage" on various rental cars. Cheap entertainment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted January 18, 2022 Share #9 Posted January 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Razors Edge said: Sweat it out. Use the A/C sparingly or not at all. Keep windows closed to prevent aerodynamic drag. No, dumb. You can't keep windows closed on hot or sunny days if you aren't running the AC. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #10 Posted January 18, 2022 10 minutes ago, Randomguy said: No, dumb. You can't keep windows closed on hot or sunny days if you aren't running the AC. Yeah - either windows open (bad aero) or AC on (better aero, but a power suck). No suffering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted January 18, 2022 Share #11 Posted January 18, 2022 2 hours ago, Razors Edge said: Tap the brakes on downhills. That can maximize regenerative braking, a process that feeds energy back to the battery. Also dumb, lots of folks don't have electric or hybrid vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #12 Posted January 18, 2022 6 minutes ago, Randomguy said: Also dumb, lots of folks don't have electric or hybrid vehicles. These are from the hypermiling in EV article. So, "rules" for hypermiling EVers, not you and me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted January 18, 2022 Share #13 Posted January 18, 2022 1 minute ago, Razors Edge said: These are from the hypermiling in EV article. So, "rules" for hypermiling EVers, not you and me! No, you said "good advice in genitals", you can't backtrack now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #14 Posted January 18, 2022 1 minute ago, Randomguy said: No, you said "good advice in genitals", you can't backtrack now! True. "Good advice in general for EV and hybrid drivers not living in hot/humid places" should have been my comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #15 Posted January 18, 2022 2 minutes ago, Randomguy said: No, you said "good advice in genitals", you can't backtrack now! First three are solid winners, though! For ALL drivers (unless you find an exception, you bastard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randomguy Posted January 18, 2022 Share #16 Posted January 18, 2022 48 minutes ago, Razors Edge said: First three are solid winners, though! For ALL drivers (unless you find an exception, you bastard). The braking one has never helped on my bike, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share #17 Posted January 18, 2022 15 minutes ago, Randomguy said: The braking one has never helped on my bike, either. You need an ebike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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