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Steadily increasing gas prices have driven people to extremes to improve their fuel economy. One such extreme is hyper miling, a series of techniques used achieve absolute highest gas mileage possible with their vehicle. Hyper-milers map out the shortest, flattest routes to their destinations, over-inflate their tires, avoid braking, and vigilantly maintain every aspect of their vehicles. Some have increased their fuel efficiency up to 100-200 miles per gallon, in standard cars like a Honda Accord.

Getting extreme fuel efficiency involves some extreme driving. Just avoiding braking isn't going to cut it. Hyper-milers accelerate extremely slowly, sometimes taking several minutes to accelerate to 50 mph. Many must resort to breaking the law or driving unsafely to increase their gas mileages to these levels. It's common for hyper-milers to drive in circles to avoid breaking, and take corners at over 50 mph in an attempt to keep up their momentum. Hyper milers barrow some techniques from race car drivers such as drafting, where they follow dangerously close behind other vehicles to lower the wind resistance.

When considering practicality and safety issues,hyper miling seems absurd. Very few people consistently participate in hyper miling. Because the small number of hyper milers, this movement will not in itself save any discernible amount of natural resources in the world. Hyper miling mainly serves to underscore the importance if our current energy crisis. These ground-breaking oddballs need to be applauded though. Their tenacity is part of what will drive the generation of fuel efficient vehicles. Their methods will be turned into technologies and their extreme commitment can serve as an inspiration to all of us. If people are willing to alter their habits to such extremes, auto manufactures will be more willing bridge the gap and create newer vehicles that don't require such extreme driving habits. Some hybrids already use magnets in their brakes to capture the energy that is normally lost during breaking. Hybrids also can use very little or no power when coasting down-hill, or in low drag conditions, such as drafting behind semi-trucks. Thanks to grass roots efforts to increase fuel efficiency, including hyper miling, we are actually seeing some of these energy saving techniques on the road today. It just proves that if we can all be willing to make small changes in our lifestyles and habits, we really can make a difference in the amount of energy and natural resources we use.

Learn more about this author, Joseph Love.
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