The hypermiling technique to save gas is a method used to get more gasoline mileage out of your car, whether you’re driving hybrid cars or old gas guzzlers. Many drivers weren’t satisfied with the initial offering of hybrids that got 30 to 45 MPG and were convinced they could do better. However, one beneficial component built into these new vehicles was the fuel economy gauge, which allowed drivers to see what drove down their MPG ratings or picked them up. They began accelerating slower from green lights, coasting to a stop well before the light and changing their driving habits to get as much as 100 MPG. It may surprise you, but many of these same strategies were first used by professional race car drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr, who couldn’t afford to run out of gas mid-race.

In June 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. caught flack from critics for coasting past the pace car to hypermile as much as possible, and making it to the end of his Lifelock 400 race just in time to run out of gas. He turned his engine off to coast whenever he could, knowing that the race would be extended past the scheduled 200 laps. “I didn’t know how much they were going to worry about it,” told news reporters. “All the cars out there are gassing it, shutting ‘em off, coasting about a half straightaway, cranking ‘em back up, gas it, coast. Everybody’s doing it.” This hypermiling technique is also known as “pulsing and gliding,” which works by making your engine use fuel when it’s most efficient. Drivers accelerate with lots of throttle and then glide or coast in neutral with the engine off. When the speed begins to drop again, the driver will give the vehicle another pulse on the gas pedal. Experts say this fuel economy technique is not recommended in heavy traffic, but is rather designed for open road driving.

With twenty laps to go, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. determined that the Number 88 Chevrolet would be just two laps short of finishing without refueling. Eury told Earnhardt to conserve as much fuel as possible using the pulse and glide hypermiling technique to save gas. “We miss it by one lap, we finish 25th,” Eury said. “If we pit and put fuel in it we’re going to finish 25th. So, who cares? Go for it.” Earnhardt said that all the cars out there were “gassing, shutting ‘em off, coasting about a half straightaway, cranking ‘em back up, coast.” Even though there were no rules regarding this gas mileage conserving technique, Earnhardt admits, “I was getting a little greedy… I wanted to coast farther, so I’d gas it harder and coast past the pace car and just let him come on and catch back up, and that way I could keep my motor off longer.”

Hypermiling guru Wayne Gerdes found that using the cruise control hypermiling technique to save gas for speeds above 30 MPH, one can increase fuel economy by double-digit percentages. In May 2009, Gerdes, Nascar driver Carl Edwards and five Ford engineers took turns driving stretches of 1,000 miles to break the 2002 hypermiling distance record. They doubled their Ford Fusion hybrid’s fuel economy to an average of 80 mpg by driving slower, keeping one guy in the car at a time to minimize the load weight, maintaining even throttle pressure, accelerating slowly, coasting to signals, keeping the AC off, closing the windows and using the pulse and glide technique. There is much to learn from the professionals, especially if it means being able to drive 1,445 miles on just one tank of gas!

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