hypermiler

Can we drive 856 miles from England to Austria on one tank of fuel?

History is punctuated by epic journeys. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic. In 1969, Neil Armstrong and chums rocketed almost 250,000 miles to land on the moon. In 2011, Drew Stearne and Rory Reid hopped in a Volvo S60 Drive and attempted to drive from Marlow in England to Mayrhofen in Austria on a single tank of diesel.

Some may argue our mission was less impressive than those of our predecessors--that we were walking on the shoulders of giants. The reality, however, was that our endeavor was far more difficult, as the distance between our start and end points was an incredible 856 miles and the theoretical maximum range of our vehicle was a mere 850 miles. If we were going to succeed, we'd have to boldly drive like no men had driven before.

52.5 mpg in a 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

We're in a 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid a few hundred feet away from our hotel in the heart of Georgetown during rush hour, sweat dripping off our faces, our necks, and legs, visibly soaking our clothes. D.C. is experiencing a heat wave, but we've got the windows rolled up and the air conditioning off.

"Let's roll down the windows," I beg.

"Stay strong--we're so close," my driving partner urges.

But I'm dehydrated and my heart is beating as though I've been working out when all I've been doing is stewing in stop-and-go traffic. Reprieve is only a few minutes away in the form of a cooled hotel lobby, and yet I feel I could faint before that point. This competition of suffering will end when we get to the hotel and Lincoln's marketing team logs our average gas mileage for the 24-mile hypermiling challenge, which is slipping from its peak of 52 mpg down to 50. That we are doing this at all is ridiculous. We are two 30-something automotive writers sous-viding ourselves in our own sweat inside the enclosed cabin, all for the chance to win an HD radio and bragging rights.

It's not worth physical injury, I finally decide. I roll down our windows and expect the gauge that monitors the accessory load to skyrocket and our gas mileage to plummet. Nothing happens. We coast into our hotel driveway at the same gas mileage as we had when we were marinating in our self-created steam room, 52.2 mpg. All that suffering for nothing.

When the hypermiling challenge was proposed to us that morning in an air conditioned meeting room in National Harbor, the temperature had not swelled to the forecasted 93 degrees, so the competition seemed easy enough, … Read more

2010 Fusion Hybrid goes 1,445 miles on single tank

Setting a world record a gasoline fueled midsized sedan, the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid traveled 1,445.7 miles on a single tank of gas on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

Traveling between 20 and 45 mph depending on traffic to take advantage of the car's capability to operate in electric-only mode up to 47 mph and foregoing cruise control to maximize fuel economy, a team of seven eco-drivers set out from Mount Vernon, Va. on Saturday at 8:15 a.m. ET with a goal of reaching 1,000 miles on their 17-gallon tank.

The team included Nascar driver Carl Edwards, high mileage trailblazer Wayne Gerdes and several Ford Motor Company engineers who took turns at the wheel, twittering their progress along the way.

The 1,000 mile target was easily reached at 9:07 a.m. EDT on April 27. Edwards reportedly took them past this milestone with an average fuel economy of 76.3 mpg, according to a post on Twitter.

With fuel still in the tank, the team continued driving into the night to see just how far the Fusion Hybrid could go. … Read more

Sentience takes the guesswork out maximizing hybrid efficiency

How can hybrids become even more efficient? You can start by removing the driver from the equation.

The Sentience Research Vehicle is a hybrid test car that uses existing onboard systems, mobile communications, and advanced mapping technologies to determine the most fuel efficient way to get to a destination. The project is a joint effort by Ricardo Company and project partners Jaguar-Land Rover, Transport Research Laboratory, and several other European interest groups, and was revealed earlier this week.

Basically, the Sentience's system removes the guesswork from and automates when and the best way to accelerate, brake, and balance the car's electrical load. … Read more