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 dat
- Rijksoverheid Overheid stimuleert milieuvriendelijker rijden
- WVW1994 art. 5
«Het is een ieder verboden zich zodanig te gedragen dat gevaar op de weg wordt veroorzaakt of kan worden veroorzaakt of dat het verkeer op de weg wordt gehinderd of kan worden gehinderd.»
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