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http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/../photos/data/2/European_Union_Flag.jpg To curb Edwards’s right foot, Gerdes insisted he remove his shoes. “If you’re not used to hyper­miling, you really need that extra sensitivity to be able to feel the exact pressure you’re applying,” says Gerdes. “Fortunately, Edwards picked it up and ran with it.” (timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/features/article6250909.ece)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_Ford_Fusion_Hybrid_Challenge_Vehicle_in_front_of_the_Capital_on_Tuesday_Morning.jpgEmma Smith - UK Times (timesonline.co.uk) - May 10, 2009

A commentable article. Please tell them we Colonials don't endorse drafting lorries. -- Ed.

Think motor sports are all about high-speed, ear-splitting revs and the smell of burning rubber? Then think again. Wayne Gerdes is pioneering a different kind of motor racing that involves driving very slowly and carefully for thousands of miles. And his latest “race” has resulted in what he claims to be a new world record.

The record attempt took place last month, and it may well have been the slowest driving race in history. According to Gerdes, if more people followed in his tyre tracks, it could help to save the world. You see, he and his team of six (including one Nascar racing driver) did the whole journey of almost 1,500 miles — the equivalent of travelling from Land’s End to John o’ Groats and more than halfway back again — on a single tank of petrol, at a cost of just $36.75 (about £24).

What’s more, the car they drove was no ultra-light eco-buggy, but a Ford Fusion — a mid-sized, four-seat family saloon with a 2.5-litre engine, 156bhp, continual variable transmission and all the mod cons. The Fusion, currently on sale only in North America, includes hybrid petrol-electric technology similar to that of the Toyota Prius, but its fuel consumption figure of 49mpg for city driving isn’t particularly impressive — at least not by European standards...http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/features/article6250909.ece

I think we already had someone join after reading The Times and want to welcome them to CleanMPG.

This thread is a good primer on hypermiling, or beyond eco-driving: Beating the EPA - The Why’s and How to Hypermile (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510)

Hi Chuck:

___I added three comments to Emma's article yesterday evening when it first went up linking the AAA rebuttal, Why's and How to Hypermile article and two points going against what she said I recommend. None have been posted yet however :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

My comment was submitted 30 minutes ago.

I'd love to get a response to the freewheeling in neutral comment. If Americans did it during WWII Gas rationing, I'd bet it was also done in Europe. Cool thing about full hybrids like the Prius is it's now completely legal. :)

Someone may know the answer to this: there may be a discussion on promoting eco-driving in general and/or as part of driver education in Britain.

Anyone know?

I didn't like the first or last part of that article. What a deluded conclusion.

I left a comment on drafting and coasting down hills in N, though I tried to stay away from the legality part and tried to focus on why it's worse for FE.

A few comments posted, but still have yet to see mine :(

Hi All:

___The online article will be corrected given the back and forth E-Mails I had with Emma earlier this morning...

Hi Wayne,

Hope you got my last email. I'm trying to get it changed asap.

Best,

Emma

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Hi Emma:

Thank you and I believe our E-Mails crossed.

I loved the article!

Sorry for keeping you up so late in the evening (your time) and thank you for taking care of this oversight as there is not a hypermiler under my tutelage that encourages drafting ;)

I also hope to meet you in person sometime in the future!

Good Luck and thank you again.

Wayne Gerdes – Owner/Admin CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com)

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Hi Wayne,

I've had a look and asked for a correction from the online team as soon as possible.

Thanks for drawing it to my attention. Hope you were otherwise pleased with the article.

Best,

Emma

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Hi Emma:

I believe an editor changed your write-up as the following is what appears online currently???

Please review your online write-up at your earliest convenience.

Wayne Gerdes – Owner/Admin CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com)

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Hi Wayne,

I'll check online in case the text is different, but in the print edition it is made very clear that 'drafting' and 'driving too slow' are certainly not recommended by us or by you.

My editor wanted to add them to make that point, as they are techniques which are often referred to in articles about hypermiling.

Best regards,

Emma

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Hi Adam:

I tried to add a few comments to Emma’s article in the online edition of the UK Times on Saturday night when it first appeared here in the US but they are not being published and I am hoping you can help.

I CC’ed Emma this E-Mail although I am only guessing as to her actual E-Mail address?

I have performed hundreds of clinics with journalists, scientists, engineers, the general public and motoring enthusiasts of all types and nothing of the “Drafting” sort has ever come from me on any of those drives other than the very first when a writer wanted to see what happens... Being possibly the most cautious driver on American roadways, it takes just one negative sentence or paragraph to destroy 1,000 positives which in turn harms my ability to earn a living and support my family. Having to continually battle the “Sensationalism” even though drafting was never said, hinted, discussed or performed hurts so if you could press upon her my passion for saving fuel by the supertanker full while doing so in a far safer manner than she may have ever experienced on public roadways, I would be most grateful.

Can you please pass this note on to her so she can make corrections to the online article at her earliest convenience.

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Hi Emma:

Thanks for the write-up and I wanted to correct an item or two.

"Driving in the slipstream, a practice known as “drafting"" is NOT RECOMMEDED and when traveling at the speed limits, there is nobody to draft in both Europe and North America anyway :)

CleanMPG to AAA - Hypermiling_Rebuttal (http://www.cleanmpg.com/cmps_index.php?page=AAA)

Secondly, "Driving considerably slower than the speed limit: it may improve economy" - We need to differentiate between the right hand lane of a four lane road (here in the US anyway ;-)) and how driving between the speed limits is “The LAW and not a suggestion”.

The 1,000 mile Challenge at 1,445.7 miles may have led to yet another revelation. We may have been the only legal drivers within 50 miles of the US capital that weekend :)

For even more information, feel free to read the "Why's and How to Hypermile (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510)" at your leisure and find your own way to double or triple your own Fuel Economy both safely and in most cases, legally. Our families and our planet depend on it.

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If at any time any of the UK Times staff would like to go out on a clinic to see how to possibly double their own fuel economy while also becoming one of the safest drivers on the public roadways, my passport is up to date and I can be on a plane out of Chicago within hours. I do not believe there is a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid currently in the UK at this time but that can possibly be arranged let alone all the other wonderful fuel efficient Ford vehicles you have at your disposal that we only dream about back here in the USA :)

Thanks in advance.

Wayne Gerdes – Owner/Admin CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com)

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Hi Adam:

Yes, even in the Good Ole USA everyone has an opinion :) Following the speed limits and anticipating 30 + seconds ahead instead of reacting to the bumper in front of you is somehow dangerous according to the “Experts”???

Having trained hundreds of drivers, 99% will say they are more aware and far safer drivers after one of my “Hypermiling clinics” than previously yet the “experts and the pundits” who cannot get 30 mpg from a 45 mpg car are always the ones who get the air time. Is it any wonder why we lose over 40,000 US citizens in traffic accidents each and every year and half of the fatalities are directly due to speeding :(

Good Luck

Wayne Gerdes – Owner/Admin CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com)

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OK – thanks Wayne – I have everything from Ford so whatever you / he has extra to that would be great.

Incidentally - I‘ve read a few Blogs and comments etc this morning and think the outcry against some of your techniques is hilarious.

All the best

Adam

___Good Luck

___Wayne

ahh, i feel better, much much better:)

I'm also pleased with the article upgrade, something I don't think has ever happened on my side of the pond.