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Skeptics - take note: "Hypermiling is a whole buffet table of techniques, and it doesn't mean you have to absorb the whole buffet table," - Wayne (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/PainAtThePump/Story?id=5049115)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/John_Flory_-_Lightfoot_behind_the_camera.jpgBill Weir - ABC News - June 11, 2008

lightfoot strikes again! -- Ed.

Take a spin with John Flory on a glorious summer day and you'll notice a certain focus from the Yale lab supervisor. He ignores the Connecticut countryside and sprawling homes, eyes fixed on the road and his miles per gallon gauge. "Going downhill is kinda like road candy," he smiles. "Here's some free miles per gallon for you."

Flory is among the growing numbers of "hypermilers" -- drivers obsessed with tire pressure and wind drag, controlled starts and rolling stops. He does his best to time green lights and only uses his air conditioner while coasting downhill. He shuts off the engine at stop lights and only parks "nose out." They may seem like annoyingly minor techniques, but they add up to big savings. The sticker on his Honda hybrid promised him 66 miles per gallon. He wants to double it. "For my 68-mile commute, I've averaged 103.6 mpg. That's my best so far, but I think I can do better."… http://abcnews.go.com/Business/PainAtThePump/Story?id=5049115

I happened to catch it live, and thought......CleanMPG AGGAAAAIIINNNN??????

:)

Well done John.

Marc,

Give the Austin stations a friendly reminder - seriously.

I saw it live, too. It was a well done segment, and reached millions of people. The word is getting out about hypermiling, it helps all of us, and the movement keeps on growing!

Harry

Hi John:

___A short addition …

“You kick @$$” :D

___Good Luck and congrats on the second great piece in a row!!!

___Wayne

I saw it on tv too. I though that it was a well-done segment, as while there was a mention of more controversial techniques, the emphasis was on the things you could do. Yea Lightfoot!! (though I didn't recognize him as they gave his real name. LOL!)



--des

Soon there will simply be whole news channel devoted to hypermiling stories. :)

Who wants to be the anchor?

Hypermiling News Network...and we could have some kind of automotive segment. I was going to say we could call it "Ask [so-and-so]" but then there's so many people whose advice I appreciate it would be hard to choose any one person, so then I decided we could call it Ask the Expert.

I don't understand how some reporters can say hypermilers are dangerous and selfish. The most common hypermiler technique involves paying close attention to all the vehicles ahead of you as well as paying especially close attention to the traffic signals (stop signs and stop lights) coming up ahead. This is much safer then "drive it like you stole it", accelerating hard when the light turns yellow, and rolling through stop signs/lights. The rolling through stop signs/lights is mainly done by impatient jerks who are in such a rush to get where they're going that they think nothing of the safety of others on the road.

I heard it on the radio Wednesday. A great job by ABC News and lightfoot. Well done.

Tried to log on last night after the segment to congratulate lightfoot, server was too busy.

Well done

I have to echo Wayne's comment that it's a tremendous pleasure to watch skilled people like this ABC team do their jobs. They are amazing. The reporter Bill Weir is a very perceptive interviewer.

We discussed NICE-ON, FAS, and P&G but they did not use any of that, which is just as well because I think I explained those methods badly. For anyone else who gets involved with something like this, it would be a good idea to rehearse succinct descriptions in advance.

Also, be forewarned that video-ing is just not conducive to good mpg, so try not to get disappointed if you don't get your normal mpg, and definitely don't whine about it on camera!

*<whining mode on>* In this case, yesterday's avg mpg reached 103.8mpg on the way down, until the last 10 miles in traffic. Got to Stamford at 101mpg, and lost another 3mpg just getting to the meeting place, grrrr. Stamford is lousy HM territory: lots of short steep mpg-robbing hills and traffic lights are diabolically out of sync. If one lived there it would take hard thinking to figure out how to deal with those conditions.

They needed to plug video equipment into the accessory socket, which (combined with the hills) sucked the hybrid battery down to almost nil, so eventually it would not go into auto-stop (or FAS either). By the time we were done the daily avg was down to 81mpg (which I realize won't elicit sympathy from anyone but other Insight pilots), grrr.

Luckily the current tank was almost done so we switched to showing Trip A (which I use for tank mpg), and that was still holding 95mpg. *<whining mode off>*

Side note: the video guy uses a huge black late-model Suburban. Packed right to the ceiling front to back with video equipment, so a very valid use of a large vehicle.

Great job, John! You are becoming a regular on TV.
Amazing how the national news networks do good, positive pieces on hypermiling while the local news always seem to try and rip hypermilers apart.

Fantastic piece.

Way to Go! :woot:

11011011

One of my neighbors thinks all hypermiling is, is drafting big trucks. I asked him how many people does he see drafting? Um, none... I'm getting almost 27% better than EPA mileage out of my 95 Grand Cherokee. Without drafting trucks. Now he wants to know what he can do.

Saw the story (my wife recorded it since I don't get home till after the national news...). Nice mostly fair piece.

I'm starting to pretend there is a hostile reporter in the right seat when I hypermile. It seems to increase my mpg.

Congrats on another fine job, John! Here's another to add to your collection -- :thumbs_up:

:D

Well done. Last night, I saw an abridged version on my local ABC news, after which the meteorologist admitted that she has been driving at the speed limit lately to get nearly 40 MPG on a regular sedan. The anchor looked stunned.

Hi All:

___Chris found the actual vid on Yahoo this afternoon!

___Enjoy :)

'Hypermiling' tricks boost mileage. (http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/8284713)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Yep. Front page of Yahoo for me just a moment ago.

Another interesting & likely response to John's press pieces involves a conversation like this:

A Honda Insight gets 66 mpg EPA?
Yes
I'm gonna get me a new one!
They don't make them new anymore.
Why the heck not?
Cause they didn't sell well during the "cheap gas forever" days
Morons! Well, can I buy one used?
Sure........good luck finding one. Production volume was low.
Why?
Cause they didn't sell well during the "cheap gas forever" days
Morons! Well, can I buy another new 66 mpg car today?
Nope. Maybe in two years.
Morons! Why?
Cause just 6 months ago auto makers still believed in "cheap gas forever" days
Morons!

In a nutshell:

"Why is everyone as blind as I was until 5 minutes ago?"