High fuel costs tend to affect everybody, including people that don’t run cars. People who have to run their own vehicles, however, tend to be the most affected. With that in mind, here are some tips on how to reduce your fuel costs. Many of these also apply to electric vehicles. Where there are differences, these are highlighted.
Take care of your car’s battery
Both petrol and electric vehicles use batteries. This means that no matter what type of car you drive, you need to maintain your battery to get the best from your vehicle. Once a week, do a visual inspection of your battery. Check that it’s properly seated, clean and has everything connected. If there is anything wrong, deal with it quickly.
If you’re not running your car often, make sure that you run the engine for at least 15 minutes a week. If your car is off-road (or there is another reason you can’t drive), you can do this while the car is stationary. Do it outside if you can. If you really can’t, do it in a very well-ventilated area.
Batteries do not like cold. Try to park your car under cover as much as you can, particularly at night. If you can’t park under cover, use a car cover as much as you can. The caveat here is that car covers should only be put on when the car is dry. If you put a car cover on when a car is wet, it can damage the pain.
Start your car the right way
What this means in practice depends on whether you’re using fuel or electricity. If you’re using a fuel vehicle, do not waste fuel by idling the engine to warm it up. This practice dates back to the days of carburettors. They ended literally decades ago.
Instead, just remember to dip the clutch as you turn on the ignition. Then drive off slowly. Let the engine warm up naturally before you think about accelerating. With that said, in cold weather, you’re probably not going to be doing that much accelerating in any case.
With electric cars, it does make sense to warm them before you start to use them. The main reason for this goes back to the fact that batteries do not like the cold. Even in a garage, there is a good chance that cold temperatures will drain a battery in winter. Allowing the car to warm up on the mains, tops up the existing charge ready for a day’s driving.
The second reason is that you can heat up the car’s interior while attached to the mains. Again, this saves more of the battery power for actual driving. This minimises the chance of you having to spend money on public charging facilities (if you can find them).
Clean out your car
The more weight your car carries, the more fuel it uses. This means that the lighter you can make your car, the less fuel it will use. Obviously, this has to be within safe limits.
For example, it’s perfectly justified to carry an emergency kit, especially in winter. In general, however, your aim should be to carry as little weight as you can. When you do carry it, you should try to carry it for as short a time as possible.
Drive gently
For practical purposes, that means keeping your foot off the brake and avoiding sharp corners. Instead, you want to be decelerating and making all turns smoothly. This not only saves fuel but also saves general wear and tear on your car.
It can also increase your safety, particularly in the colder months. This is the time when road conditions are often slippery and brakes may not work as well as you’d like.
