I think you're under the assumption that people understand that their driving habits actually have an affect on fuel economy. I don't believe most people do.
With how much the TV, radio and internet news people go on and on about fuel prices and ways to save fuel there really is no excuse for not knowing that your driving effects your fuel economy. And on top of that, most newer cars have a display that will show you your instant milage. BTW, climbing the "Grapevine" out of LA fully loaded my truck will dip at low as 1.2 MPG.
Forget silly hybrid cars. How much petrol can be saved if every driver was taught to drive efficiently? The potential is certainly there for savings to be huge.
Think about this. I'm willing to bet that every one of the 6 million trucks in the US could save a gallon of fuel a day if people in cars just learned how to merge properly. 6 million x $4/gallon is
$24 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY saved in fuel costs. It may not effect the cost of fuel, but I'd bet it would effect the cost of goods on the shelf. And thats without people doing anything else to their driving habits. We could save a LOT of fuel if people actually cared enough to change their driving habits.
yg17 said:
Of course, this test is by no means scientific, since I can never do the entire trip with the cruise control on without crashing into someone who is driving slow, so I wasn't doing those speeds the entire time, but for almost the entire distance, I was. So driving habits on the highway aren't really going to change much in terms of fuel consumption. Can't say the same for the city, but I'm sure habits will have a greater effect there.
Try your test again, but this time do that math manually. Fill up before you leave and fill up when you arrive. Write the numbers down on a piece of paper and do the math. You will find out two things. One, how accurate your in-dash display is. Two, the actual fuel saved. Also, try your test at 60 MPH in addition to 70 and 80. I'd bet the difference between 60 and 70 is greater than the difference between 70 and 80.
In my 23 year old Mustang I can get 26 MPG in the city and 33 MPG on the highway. That is with a heavily modified car and no emissions equipment. And oddly enough, it passes the Seattle emissions tests with better numbers than with the emissions equipment intact.
In my pickup, if I do 55 MPH on the highway I can get a touch over 15 MPG. At higher speeds the milage plummets as far as 9 MPG at 75. If I spent $8-10K on mods I could get it to over 20 MPG on the highway, but at that point it would be cheaper to buy a different pickup with the mods already done by the factory.
