Energy Efficiency for Your Vehicle

Gas Mileage: A number of smart driving tips enable consumers to increase energy efficiency in the car. Small steps like removing excess weight from the backseat and truck of the car reduce energy consumption and can save money for consumers. Similarly, driving the speed limit and using cruise control enhance engine performance. Finally, maintaining a car with care is one of the most important things individuals can do to increase energy efficiency. A properly tuned engine can improve fuel economy by 4%, while new air filters can improve it by up to 23%.

For more detailed information on these tips, please see the Department of Energy’s Fuel Economy website.
 
Advanced technologies: Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel in a tank gets used to move a car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous. New technologies include hybrid vehicles, which use both gasoline and battery power, advanced diesel vehicles, which use clean, low-sulfur diesel that is much more efficient than traditional diesel fuels, and alternative and flex-fuel vehicles, which use non-oil based fuel sources or dual-fuel tanks to allow consumers to choose between renewable fuels and gasoline.

For a complete description of advanced technologies, visit FuelEconomy.gov. This website also lists energy efficient auto technologies and will let you find your car’s energy efficiency score.

For a list of alternative fuel vehicles, visit DiscoverAlternatives.org.