Modern autos are highly energy-efficient, whether they run on electric, hybrid, or gas-fueled engines. This is great for both your wallet and the planet, but you don’t need to upgrade your car to drive greener. There’s plenty you can do to make the model you have as efficient as possible.
Tire Pressure
Get yourself into the habit of checking your tire pressure every month or so. Under-inflated tires need more energy to drive the car along the pavement and therefore increase your gas usage.
What’s more, they also wear out more quickly and need replacing more often, wasting resources in both production and disposal.
Travel Lightly
Check through your trunk and passenger cabin, and remove any items you don’t need to carry with you all the time. Every extra pound of weight burns a little more gas, and over a year this can all add up to a significant waste of fuel.
Invest in Window Tinting
Keeping your car cool in summer is made easy by turning up the air conditioning. Unfortunately, this is incredibly wasteful and makes your engine work harder to supply the energy needed.
Adding a tinted film to your windows will stop the heat building up so high in the first place, reducing the energy required for cooling and lessening the wear and tear on your air con system.
Don’t Overfill Your Tank
Driving everywhere with a full gas tank means you’re dragging unneeded weight along on every journey. Unless you’re driving a long distance, there’s no need to have your tank more than half full. This amount leaves you some gas in reserve for emergencies, without burning fuel just to carry a full tank around.
What’s more, modern vehicles have a safety feature on their gas tanks which stops dangerous vapors from escaping. If you always fill your tank to the top, you’ll be putting unnecessary pressure on this device, and it will eventually fail.
You’ll need to pay for a replacement at your next service, which is a waste of resources. Just as bad, in the meantime, you risk the contents of your gas tank slowly evaporating even when your car is sitting in the garage.
Turn Off the Engine
In the old days, it was more fuel-efficient to leave your car running if you had to park up for a few minutes. This was because a lot of gas was used to kick the engine into life.
Modern ignition systems are much more efficient, and you’ll save more fuel by turning off the engine whenever you’re stationary for more than ten to twenty seconds. There’s no need to switch off at every stop light, but try to keep the engine running as little as possible when you’re not on the move.
Don’t Warm the Engine
In the same way, there’s no need to warm your engine on a cold morning if your car was made any time within the last decade. Unless your area has been hit by an unusual arctic blast, your auto will be ready to roll within seconds of starting the engine. Anything else is a waste of gas.
Regular Maintenance
Lastly, keeping your car properly serviced and maintained is essential. It cuts down on the long-term costs of repairs, but also keeps it running smoothly in between. A smoother-running car uses less fuel, and over time this will more than offset the cost of regular servicing.
The days of gas-guzzling cars are fast coming to an end, but the age of the fully electric auto is still some time away. However, you don’t need to wait to reduce the impact your driving has on the environment. These simple tips will reduce your carbon footprint as well as saving you money at the filling station.
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