Increase Your Miles Per Gallon
 Increasing your miles per gallon (MPG) not only saves fuel, but also reduces harmful emissions that negatively impact health and the environment and saves you money.
Why use fuel if you don’t need to? Unnecessary consumption increases your cost, puts further demands on the supply of oil, and harms our health and environment. Increasing your MPG is an inexpensive, significant, and easy way to conserve fuel. If you are not in a position to carpool, use public transportation, walk or bike, or buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle, make sure your car or truck is functioning as well as possible. By simply paying a little more attention to how you drive and maintaining your vehicle regularly, you can save large quantities of fuel, not to mention money.
DID YOUR KNOW?
- For every gallon of gasoline that is consumed, 20+ pounds of global warming pollutants are released into the air.
- By getting just 3 more miles per gallon, the average driver will save over 120 gallons of fuel a year.
- An extra 100 pounds in your trunk reduces gasoline economy by about 1%.
- Under-inflated tires lowers gas mileage by 0.4% for every one pound of drop in pressure of all four tires.
- For every ten miles per hour you floor it, you lose as much as 15% in fuel economy.
- When you idle you get 0 miles per gallon, which means you are simply burning gas and emitting harmful pollutants.
- Servicing your car can increase your MPG by up to 10%.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Slow down and drive at the speed limit, especially on highways and freeways.
- Use the cruise control set at the speed limit on long trips to avoid excessive accelerating.
- Don’t redline it, but rather get into the highest gear you can at the lowest possible speed.
- Accelerate slowly from a stop. Gunning it uses unnecessary fuel.
- Turn off the key to avoid excessive idling. Under no circumstance should a vehicle be idling for more than 5 minute.
- Don’t accelerate to attempt to increase your speed when you’re climbing a hill.
- Don’t use your vehicle as storage. Extra weight creates poorer MPG.
- If you don’t need to run your air conditioner, don’t because it forces the engine to work harder.
- Use a map or ask directions. Wandering aimlessly uses extra fuel.
- Take available parking spaces rather than waiting or searching for a better one.
- Use the grade of oil recommended for your vehicle as thicker than required will reduce your gas mileage.
- Keep your tires properly inflated. Remember, as it gets colder, your tires loose air.
- Service your car regularly, including oil and filter changes.
RESOURCES
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