I'm not sure if you guys have seen this yet - Wayne Gerdes (screen name: xcel) is in a CNN special about hypermiling. He used to be really active here at GH but I think he maintains his own mileage-centric website now.

Here's the link

 

This was a front page link with video today. I don't know if Wayne still posts here, but I think he is still over on CleanMPG.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tec...ypermiling.cnn


I don't have audio on my work PC, but it seemed a little wacky to me... It started with him pushing his car out of the driveway, and also appeared that he turned off his key while driving....which, while I'm sure others here are doing, seems like a crazy thing to do on a national news piece.

 

Hummmmmm..... I watch and listened to the entire clip.

Wayne was part of the CBS experiment a few weeks ago and showed his Prius getting excellent gas mileage. In that clip, he was showed being passed by a school bus and tailgating a tractor trailer.

Now in this clip, he push starts his car, turns off the ignition while driving, freely admits to tailgating and is showed taking turns at unsafe speeds.

One may defend Wayne for bringing "hypermiling" to the fore front as the he has demonstrated many good techniques. However, this clip does nothing for Hypermiling. It shows dangerous driving habits all in the name of saving gas.

This is not the image I as a Hypermiler want to protray to the public.

One should Hypermile without impeeding traffic (drive with the flow and smooth), driving reckless (tailgating) or turning off the engine (just plain dangerous).

Sorry Wayne - but this report did not show Hypermiling or you in a good light.

 

I hear many people say to "Go with the flow". I think this thought is incorrect. If I did that on my commute everyday then I would be doing 80 miles per hour. I don't drive like a turtle doing 10 or 15mph below the speed limit but I am keeping it right at or 5 mph over the limit lately.

I don't really use any "hypermiling" techniques per se but I will not allow people to force me to break the law. If I am going to go over the limit it's not going to be because someone is going to ride my a$$ until I do. I used to drive fast all of the time but now I've had a change in lifestyle and choose to drive right around the speed limit and drive mostly in the right or middle lanes on the expressways.

 

HybridVue:


First of all Wayne did not endorse tailgating. In fact, he (and Miles O'Brian) described tailgating as bad. What you did see him do is distant drafting which at the speeds he was traveling was undeniably safer that what most people do on freeways, daily.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Msantos I think he was referring to the CBS video on the trip to New York. It showed him very close to a semi but from watching the video I don't think it was intentional.

As to pointing out getting passed by a school bus....SO WHAT! Do you know what speeds they were going at that exact moment? You've never seen a school bus driver go over the speed limit before. I see it all the time and I have even called in on one of them when they were doing 50 in a 35 and that was when I used to speed like crazy at times too.

 

I agree with the concensus that this clip was not good for the typical hypermiler. Wayne might be called an "extreme" hypermiler, but publishing such extreme measures is not in the interest of promoting fuel efficiency as an everyday and safe exercise.

I must also concur with CoolShock1 on the "go with the flow" attitude. It is most unfortunate that the prevailing commuter attitude pretty much ignores the traffic laws and common road safety.

My own "mild" hypermiling technique accepts and conforms to reasonable traffic speeds (i.e. in the speed limits and up to average speed). On two-lane roads, I move essentually the same speed as the prevailing traffic, which is rarely greater than 60 miles per hour. On four lane hiways and freeways, I move right and stay with the posted limits.

The difference is that even when travelling at the same "average" speed as others, I maintain an increased separation from the vehicle ahead as a buffer for anticipating stops, slow-downs, turns, starts (from standing) of the vehicle ahead and re-accelerations after they slow down for the one ahead of them. This permits accelerations and decelerations that are more gradual and thus more efficient. When avoiding a stop is not possible, it permits gradual, long regen braking using minimal friction brakes.

I also stop further behind the stopped vehcile ahead than is usual in a stop (probably an additional car length or so). This permits gradual, "anticipated" acceleration for either all of the acceleration or, at least, for the slow part of it when the energy demand is the greatest.

As you can see from my signature, these "mild" techniques, along with a few others and a knowledge of the TCH systems, provide pretty nice results and an FE that is worth working a little to acheive.

 

To MSantos:

You are correct - tailgating not the right word choice. Drafting is.

However, we all saw him pushing the car, turning off the ignition while moving and taking a turn fast enough to knock the camera off. Those driving behaviors do not earn him the seal of approval from AAA or from many of us.

When I go with the flow - I drive at the speed limit +-5 miles an hour. If the taffic goes faster that is why I am in the right or middle lane. Pass on the left.

 

Dan:

The press has been working hard to connect mainstream hypermiling with drafting and sometimes what we "see" can be very misleading at first glance.

At CleanMPG, any form of tailgating (close drafting) is strongly rejected and denounced.
However, there are still many people who readily "assume" that close drafting is a technique endorsed by mainstream hypermilers. Again, this is false.

Of course, you cannot stop every Joe-six-pack from calling himself a "hypermiler" and then go-off on a close drafting campaign. But Wayne and many others at CleanMPG have been working very hard to popularize the concepts and techniques and close-drafting is not one of them.

Second, we cannot separate "Wayne Gerdes" from hypermiling. Wayne Gerdes IS hypermiling. He not only coined the term but he also popularizes it.
For those us who don't approve of what Wayne does and feel he makes hypermiling look bad, then maybe we should say we ecodrive instead of "hypermile". I would say so, since ecodriving is a more appropriate designation for folks who want to use a more traditional set of fuel-saving techniques.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Some are trying hard to twist that CBS video into Wayne intentionally draft that semi, even after he speaks out against it, but then it's not the first or last distortion of that nature here.

Other things I've noticed is CleanMPG is having another server upgrade as 1100 visited at one point today - don't think they share the anti-hypermiling views on this thread. About 30 members there have been in some form of hypermiling article or shoot.

Odd that there are threads complaining about poor gas milage while knocking hypermiling.

Really wondering about the pair of stickies IBrands has on wanting to interview hypermilers...nobody eager to step forward so they can get treated like Wayne.