With fuel prices continuing to increase at an alarming rate, it makes sense for South Africans to be looking for fuel efficient driving techniques that will help them save money in the long run.
Did you know that driving smart could improve your fuel efficiency by as much as 40%? The Department of Energy in the US found this statistic to be true when you implement fuel-efficient driving techniques. What this means is that if a full tank of fuel normally allows you to drive around 650km, by driving smart, you could get as many as 900km on a tank.
So, if you fill up your car 48 times during the course of the year and spend R700 a pop, reducing your fuel consumption by 40% could save you as much as R13 000 a year! Which translates to you having an additional R1000 or more in your back pocket every month. Time to treat yourself for smart driving? We think so!
So, without making you wait any longer, here are some fuel efficient driving techniques.
7 Fuel Efficient Driving Techniques:
1. Maintain your car
Regular maintenance and servicing of your car is a simple and effective way to ensure your car is reliable and your fuel consumption is improved. Issues like sticky brakes, dirty oil, dirty air filters, and worn out spark plugs can cause your car to use more fuel.
It’s also important to ensure your tyres are inflated to the right pressure (outlined in your car’s manual). As both overinflated and underinflated tyres can negatively affect your fuel efficiency.
Bad wheel alignment will also cause more friction when driving and take more power from your car to correct, leading to higher fuel consumption.
Summary of car service and maintenance points:
- Get your car regularly serviced.
- Ensure your car is always running smoothly.
- Ensure your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure for the load your car is carrying.
- Ensure your wheels are aligned.
2. You are not in a fast and furious movie – slow down!
This is probably the most obvious point when it comes to being more fuel-efficient. Remember this – gentle right foot and the highest gear possible within the speed limit.
Speeding excessively is one of the biggest reasons for fuel-guzzling. Experts suggest that a way to drive smarter is to change gears as quickly as you can with the lowest revs possible – which is likely to be around 2000rpm. The faster your engine spins, the more fuel it uses. Gradual acceleration is the key to smooth and fuel-efficient driving.
Read more: How to Be a Confident Driver: 10 Tips & Tricks
3. Lighten the load and reduce drag
Remove any items from your car that you do not need. Then, if you can, remove things like bike carriers, roof racks, roof boxes, or other items that might be causing a drag effect. Driving with the windows open also causes the same drag effect, which means that you end up using more fuel.
4. Maintain momentum
You should try to avoid stop-starting as much as possible. You can pre-empt this by looking ahead in traffic and planning your approach.
When you are approaching traffic lights that are red, start to slow down way before them so you can maintain momentum and not have to bring your car to a complete stop – meaning you get to the robot with enough momentum to keep moving by the time it turns green. It’s all about getting the timing right so you can flow through urban driving situations.
5. Use the aircon sparingly
Both of these heating and cooling your car with the aircon will increase your fuel consumption.
6. Plan your trips to get more done in one go
If you need to go fetch the kids from school, get groceries, and go to the dry cleaners, try to plan your day so that you can accomplish all these tasks in one go. This will help limit the mileage driven, save you time, and ensure your car’s engine is running at its optimal temperature. A warm engine is more fuel-efficient.
7. Plan your trips around traffic
It’s not always possible to avoid traffic, but if you can, plan your days in advance to miss as much of it as you can. Driving in traffic uses more fuel than driving on an open road due to the “stop and start” of heavy traffic.
Before going anywhere, check your GPS for any unexpected traffic congestions like road works or robots that are out as a result of load shedding and try to take another route. To avoid traffic in the mornings, get into work earlier and leave earlier. Otherwise, why not stay just a little later at the office, get some more work done or pop into a nearby coffee shop and then leave after traffic starts to decrease?
Final Thoughts
The best way to improve your fuel efficiency as a driver is simply to be more aware of your driving habits (especially when you’re in a rush!). By using the fuel efficient driving techniques above, you’ll be more mindful of how you drive, and likely end up using less fuel as a result.
And while we’re on the topic of being a smart car owner – don’t forget about the car insurance! With Oneplan, you’ll never have to worry about paying too much on your premium with our flexible cover slider, which ranges from 30% to 95% cover. The way it works is that if you choose 95% cover, you pay the 5% excess. If you choose 50% cover, you pay the other 50% of the bill.
We also know that life can be unpredictable, which is why we let you increase or decrease your car insurance cover when you need to with just a few clicks on the Oneplan App!
Get a free online quote by clicking here, or you can get one of our friendly agents to call you back.
Your Insurance Family,
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