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The way you drive makes a big difference in your fuel consumption, the wear and tear on your car, and your greenhouse gas emissions. Make a point of shifting to energy-efficient driving habits. You'll save money, reduce your impact on the environment, and you'll be a safer driver, too.

How to take action

  • Smooth out your ride. Rapid acceleration and sudden braking can drive your fuel consumption up by as much as 39%. Leave plenty of space in front of you and adopt a mellow approach to the road – you'll be safer and put money back in your pocket. (Tests show that "jackrabbit starts" and hard braking only reduce your travel time by 4%, while driving your emissions up fivefold.)
  • Reduce your speed. Reducing your highway speed from 120 to 100 km/h uses 20% less fuel. By taking a little more time to get to your destination, you can noticeably your emissions, and your costs.
  • Use cruise control if you have it. Cruise control keeps your speed steady, burns less fuel and helps you avoid speeding.
  • Accelerate smoothly into the highest appropriate gear. Driving too long in a lower gear than necessary burns more gas.
  • Avoid the A/C. Air conditioning adds to the load on your engine, which burns extra gas – up to 20% more than just driving alone. Use your vehicle's flow-through ventilation instead, or open a window when driving in the city.
  • Carry only what you need. When you have extra items in your car, you're paying to transport them everywhere you go. Cut down on storage and save on gas.
  • Avoid idling. Idling for more than 10 seconds burns more gas than shutting off your car and restarting. Idling for 10 minutes a day increases your fuel consumption by 5% over the course of a year. In cold weather, use a block heater to warm your engine instead of leaving it running to "warm up."
  • Plan trips to avoid rush hours – you'll reduce how much you idle in traffic, and have more time to spend outside the car.
  • Leave a few minutes earlier. If you're habitually late, you'll drive faster, less efficiently, and less safely, to your destination.
  • Don't ride the brakes. Riding with one foot on the gas and one on the brake is not only dangerous, it can add a persistent drag on your engine, burning extra gas.
  • Don't "drive thru" for your coffee or a snack. Take a break from the smog in the drive-through lineup, turn off your engine and walk in to your restaurant. You'll probably be served faster than the folks in the drive-through line, and you'll save gas too.

Why it makes a difference

  • Small changes add up. If every driver in Canada cut their idling by five minutes per day, it would reduce greenhouse emissions by two million tonnes per year – the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road!
  • Personal vehicles are a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions across Canada. In B.C., 45% of the average household greenhouse gas emissions come from cars and trucks.

For more information

Last Modified: Sep 2, 2010

 

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