Economical driving — where consumption comes from
| What you do | Why it works | Where it goes wrong | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre pressure | Keep the tyres at the correct pressure at all times. | It is about ROLLING RESISTANCE: the more easily the car rolls on, the less fuel it burns. A soft tyre deforms with every revolution, and that deformation is lost energy. | Seeing it as an environmental measure and therefore optional. The same underinflation also lengthens the braking distance and overheats the tyre — this is a safety measure that happens to save money. |
| Shifting up in time | Shift up in good time, preferably below 2,000 revolutions per minute. | At the same speed in a higher gear the engine turns more slowly and pumps less air and fuel around. It is the only figure the ANWB names here. | Shifting up until the engine nearly stalls. An engine labouring below its torque range uses more, not less — “as high as possible” is not the same as “in time”. |
| Coasting to a red light | Release the throttle in time and let the car coast IN GEAR — do not press the clutch — and shift down if needed to brake on the engine. | “That way you use no fuel”: with the throttle closed and the engine driven by the wheels the injection cuts off. With the clutch in, the engine idles and does consume. | Thinking freewheeling is more economical because the engine “works less”. Exactly the opposite: in neutral it must be fed fuel to keep turning. |
| Unnecessary weight | Take all unnecessary items out of the car. | Here the ANWB names the only hard figure on the whole list: every 100 kilos quickly means about 0.3 litres extra per 100 kilometres. | Dismissing the figure as small. At 15,000 km a year, 100 kilos of ballast is about 45 litres — and that is luggage you never use. |
| Roof box and bike rack | Do not keep driving around with a roof box or bike rack on when you do not need it. | Two losses at once: the WEIGHT and the AIR RESISTANCE. The second grows with the square of speed, so on the motorway an empty rack costs the most. | Leaving an empty box on “until the next holiday”. Empty saves only the weight; the drag stays in full. |
| Air conditioning after a hot day | Do not put the air conditioning straight on maximum: first open the windows so the worst of the heat can escape. And park in the shade where possible. | The air conditioning is a compressor driven by the engine; using it raises fuel consumption. Ventilating is free, cooling is not. | Concluding that the air conditioning should stay off. On the motorway open windows often cost more through drag than the AC does — and fogged windows cost visibility. |
| Looking ahead and keeping distance | Look ahead, keep your distance and anticipate others so that you brake less. The ANWB adds the caveat itself: road safety always comes first. | Braking turns speed into heat in the discs. Everything you brake away you built up with fuel and then throw out — which is why braking less makes the biggest difference. | Putting economy above safety and becoming “a rolling obstacle”. Whoever drives too slowly or holds others up falls under art. 5 WVW — obstructing is expressly forbidden there. |
| Short trips and a cold engine | Replace short trips by cycling or walking; and if the car is unavoidable, combine trips so the engine is already warm. | A warm engine uses less. The first kilometres after a cold start are therefore the most expensive of the whole trip, and on a short trip the trip consists of nothing else. | Warming the engine up while stationary. That heats it the slowest and consumes fuel meanwhile; driving off gently warms it faster. |
The law itself
ANWB Hypermilen? Zo doe je datRijksoverheid Overheid stimuleert milieuvriendelijker rijdenWVW1994 art. 5
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