In a complete reversal of one of the UK’s wettest summers on record, many parts of the country are basking in the sun with temperatures reaching a whopping 32°C. As the mercury goes up many motorists reach for the aircon button for some relief from the record temperatures, using up to 10% more fuel in the process.
During the summer months there are a few steps you can take to help ease the effect of the heat while driving. Here’s a run down of our Summer Hypermiling tips that could help you save precious fuel as temperatures soar.
- Park in the shade. Use trees, buildings or what ever you can to stop the sun from cooking your interior.
- Use silver windscreen deflectors to divert away the sun if you have no shade
- If possible find a parking spot that will allow you to leave you windows open with out attracting undesirables to your valuables.
- When travelling at under 40MPH open windows cause very little drag, they are a much better option than having the air conditioning on which can increase fuel consumption by a staggering 10 percent in some cases.
- If you simply must have the air condition on, set it to recirculating mode. This ensures that you are chilling the cool air already in your car without having to cool the warmer air from out side.
- Hanging material such as towels in the rear windows is a great way of stopping those nasty rays from cooking you. It’s a blast from the past but very effective.
Most of these tips are common sense but they could make a huge impact on the temperature inside your car and help you kick the habit of reaching for the AC as soon as the sun graces the sky.
If you have any other tips or ideas on how to save fuel then please feel free to leave a reply in the comments box by clicking Read More.
Find out more on how to save fuel with our hypermiling techniques page.
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