BOSTON, Mass -- In a recent article distributed by the Associated Press and published on the
Boston Globe (6/3/07)
website, Chris Williams wrote about
hypermilers, and very nearly got it right. When he quoted actual hypermilers like Laurie With of Saulk Rapids, Minn., he did OK. But then he somehow drew a wrong conclusion:
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She is part of a small and extremely dedicated group of drivers around the country who call themselves 'hypermilers.' They almost exclusively drive hybrid vehicles [emphasis added]
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While Williams does credit Wayne Gerdes of
CleanMPG.com with coining the term 'hypermiler,' he missed looking in the
'Mileage Logs' of Gerdes' site where he would have seen the logged results from the drivers of 130 hybrid cars and trucks, 170 gasoline vehicles, one pure electic SUV, and nine diesels. On the
GasSavers.org site, hypermilers regularly share tips on both driving techniques as well as automotive tunings shown to increase fuel efficiency. On that site,
'Gaslogs' show 191 gasoline vehicles (including two motorcycles), 11 diesels, and eight hybrids. I really don't think a minorty should be considered 'almost exclusivity.'
After that, Williams confined his quotes and comments almost exclusively to methods that seem risky. He appears to infer that the way most hypermilers get their high gas mileage numbers is by taking dangerous risks. For example when enumerating the constituent techniques, he includes only those that entail words like 'danger:'
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Gerdes recommends following the truck at a gap of about 1 second; drafting any closer yields eye-popping gas mileage but is too dangerous.
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But, one second at 60 mph is 88 feet, or over six car-lengths.
And when describing the technique of pulse and glide, he writes:
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"you can wind up killing somebody," Gerdes says.
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He then returns to the drafting discussion by quoting a Kurt Antonius of Honda Motor Co.:
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"It may be great on the racetrack to do drafting, but not on the highway," he said.
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Infering that hypermiling requires drafting and is therefore irresponsible.
He similarly quotes a Minnesota State Patrol Lieutenant who admonishes the practice of shutting down a cars engine while driving and also discourages drafting trucks at less than a three second interval. The implication seems to be that this is, perhaps, all hypermiling is about.
OK, three seconds at 60 mph is 264 feet or atleast 18 car-lengths. I think leaving nearly a football field between me and a truck is a bit unusual to say the least.
He then suggests another pedestrian, over simplification of hypermiling:
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Hypermiling, it turns out, looks an awful lot like Sunday driving.
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I'm not sure what he's trying to say here. I think he's saying this type of driving is disappointing and not really very exciting after all.
I think the article was a nice first attempt at describing the iconoclastic techniques that are hypermiling, but the slanted criticism seems to dilute its informational value.
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