Hypermiling

With the price of fuel now getting out of control my wife and I did a little investigating into the availability of electric motor vehicles over the weekend. I got a little excited at first because of a web site called Green Vehicles. This dealership located in San Jose California offers four vehicles that are electric only autos. My excitement was short lived because only one of the four vehicles is able to go faster than 35 mph. The one vehicle that go 80 mph is a three wheeled vehicle that seats only two. That means its out as far as our daughter and her car seat is concerned. After looking around all weekend the only one that satisfactorily met our needs was a vehicle called the Phoenix SUV which at his point is a cost prohibitive auto at $54,000. There is a buzz about the Honda Prius Hybrid getting 94 mpg.

Until then I am going to try something called hypermiling. I've been doing a bit of research on this as well. The different sites I've visited looking for tips and guides all say about the same thing. The first three things it says to do is optimize your tire pressure, make your car as light as possible, and track your gas mileage. Today I spent the afternoon doing just that pulling every thing out of the car that is simply not necessary. I also made a customized driving / fuel & mileage Journal for a 1" three ring binder. I'll check my tires again tomorrow and stop by nearby tire garage and make an appointment for tire rotation. I'm anxious to see how I start out with these hypermiling techniques. My initial goal is to top 35 mpg.