Do You Know How to Reduce Vehicle Fuel Consumption?

2008 has been a year of many record highs for the price of petroleum. Look at the graph below. It looks like it has only gone up and up and up!! For more details about the trend of oil prices, you can check out this article about oil price increases since 1993 at Wikipedia.org or get the latest energy statistics from the U.S. government at the Energy Information Administration website.

Anyway, if you drive a vehicle, this situation must be causing you a lot of pain. It sure is hurting me, so I decided to find some ways to reduce the fuel consumption of my vehicle. Here is a short list I compiled to share with you:

1. Check your tire pressure regularly. Apart from being dangerous, under-inflated tyres will make your engine work harder and also causes uneven tyre wear.
2. Avoid sharp acceleration and braking. You may thing you look cool when you make "jackrabbit starts" and speed off at the traffic light, but it's sure gonna cost you more fuel! Abrupt and hard braking also wastes fuel, not to mention increasing tyre wear.
3. Don't be idle. Do not start your car unless you mean to drive it. If you're waiting for someone for more than 5 minutes, turn the car off. As long as the engine is running, fuel is getting burned!
4. Don't bother warming up your car. Most cars today do not need to be warmed up anymore. It's a waste of fuel. The best way to warm up your car's engine is to drive it gently. It will reach it's normal operating temperature very soon that way.
5. Lighten your car. Do not store stuff in your car. The extra weight just makes it burn more fuel.
6. Watch that speed limit! Driving at 80 km/h uses up to 15% less fuel than driving at 110 km/h.
7. Use your air-conditioning wisely. Try to park your car in the shade when it's hot so that your air-conditioner doesn't need to work so hard to cool your car. And if you're in the cool mountain tops, turn it off! The harder you work your air-conditioner, the more fuel you'll burn.
8. Plan your driving trips. Stop and go traffic will definitely cause more fuel to be used. So, avoid roads with lots of traffic lights. Also, avoid the rush hour if you can.
9. Drive a hybrid car. Hybrid cars are powered by both electricity and fuel. If you drive at sensible speeds, this car should be able to reduce the amount of fuel that you'll need to pump.
10. Car pool. Not only will you get a companion to talk to, you can share the fuel costs as well as reduce fuel emissions.

That's the only 10 that I can think of. If you have any other tips on how to reduce vehicle fuel consumption, please do not hesitate to share it with us.