Tips for Driving Efficiency

Your driving habits, the type of vehicle you drive and the conditions under which you drive will affect your vehicle's environmental performance. Follow these tips for greener driving.

Minimise your vehicle use

Think about your travel needs prior to your travel. Planned travel decisions will result in fewer trips and more efficient/cheaper travel than unplanned decisions made 'on the go'. Some travel planning tips:

* Plan to do a number of errands in one trip rather than several trips and save both time and fuel (for the first couple of minutes of a car trip the engine is cold and this results in an increase in fuel consumption per kilometre).
* Patronise shops near to you whenever possible to reduce the distances you travel by car. Walk or cycle to your local shops if you can.
* Avoid peak-hour traffic whenever possible.
* Use alternative transport, eg. public transport (bus, train, tram or ferry), walking or cycling. These alternative methods of travel are often cheaper, and may provide other benefits including increased fitness.

Drive in high gear

The engine runs most efficiently between around 1,500 and 2,500 rpm (lower in diesels). To maintain these low revs you should change up through the gears as soon as practical and before the revs reach 2,500 rpm. Automatic transmissions will shift up more quickly and smoothly if you ease back slightly on the accelerator once the car gathers momentum.

Drive smoothly - avoid unnecessary acceleration

Drive at a good distance from the car in front so you can anticipate and travel with the flow of traffic. You will be able to see such things as traffic lights changing or cars turning and minimise your fuel use through braking and accelerating back up to full speed.

Minimise fuel wasted in idling

Minimise fuel wasted in idling by stopping the engine whenever your car is stopped or held up for an extended period of time. By having the engine switched off, even for a short period, you will save more fuel than is lost from the burst of fuel involved in restarting the engine. The net increased wear and tear from this practice is negligible.

Speed kills economy

High speeds result in high fuel consumption. At 110 km/h your car uses up to 25% more fuel than it would cruising at 90 km/h.

Minimise aerodynamic drag

Additional parts on the exterior of a vehicle such as roof racks and spoilers, or having the window open, increases air resistance and fuel consumption, in some cases by over 20%.

Look after your vehicle's tyres

Inflate your vehicle's tyres to the highest pressure recommended by the tyre manufacturer and make sure your wheels are properly aligned (remember to keep your spare tire inflated as well). Looking after your tyres will not only reduce your fuel consumption it will also extend tyre life and improve handling.

Use air conditioning sparingly

Air conditioners can use about 10% extra fuel when operating. However, at speeds of over 80 km/h, use of air conditioning is better for fuel consumption than an open window.

Travel light

Don't carry more people or cargo than you have to. The more a vehicle carries the more fuel it uses; an extra 50kg of weight can increase your fuel bill by around 2%.

Service your vehicle regularly

Keeping your vehicle well tuned will minimise its environmental impact.

Toyota's Hybrid Prius Tops Satisfaction Table

LONDON - For the first time, a hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, is the highest-ranking model in satisfying owners of new cars, according to an annual survey.


The Prius ties with the Lexus IS for top spot among models included in the study.

Other high scorers are Japanese models from Toyota, Honda and Lexus, although Skoda shows well, with the Octavia and Fabia ranking fifth and seventh overall.

The J.D. Power and Associates/What Car? magazine 2007 UK Car Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) highlights a growing trend towards environmentally friendly cars.

The Prius, the first mass-produced hybrid car, with a part-petrol, part-electric engine, first went on sale in Japan in 1997 and has seen sales rise steeply in tandem with concern about the environment.

It received 868 index points on the survey's 1,000 point scale and earned particularly high ratings in ownership costs.

Prius owners are most satisfied with day-to-day operating costs and also report high satisfaction for vehicle quality, vehicle appeal and dealer service.

"The Prius clearly demonstrates that car owners think green is good," said Steve Fowler, editor of What Car? magazine.

"We know that there's an increase in consumer interest in environmentally friendly cars here in the UK, and with the Prius topping the model rankings in the 2007 study, we may be seeing a trend emerging in people's thinking about these vehicles."

In the rankings of nameplates, or manufacturers, luxury Japanese brand Lexus ranks highest for a seventh consecutive year, receiving a customer satisfaction score of 862 points.

Lexus continues to receive particularly high ratings in three of the four key measures: quality/reliability, service satisfaction and vehicle appeal. Following Lexus in the rankings are Honda and Skoda in a tie at 845 points, Toyota (832) and Daihatsu (824).

Mercedes-Benz is the most improved maker in 2007, increasing 12 points from 2006. Other notable improvements include Citro n, MG Rover and Land Rover.

"Mercedes-Benz has made impressive strides over the past two years, with major improvements in vehicle quality and dealer service making a strong impact on satisfaction with the overall ownership experience," said Frank Parisi, director of European automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates.

The study is based on the evaluations of more than 18,000 British car owners after an average of two years of ownership and includes 33 brands and 113 models.

Owners provide detailed evaluations of their vehicles and dealers, which covers 77 attributes grouped in four measurements of satisfaction.

In order of importance, they are: Quality and reliability; vehicle appeal, which includes performance, design, comfort and features; dealer service satisfaction and ownership costs which include fuel consumption, insurance and costs of service/repair.

The top five models:

1. Toyota Prius (868 points)

2. Lexus IS (also 868)

3. Honda Jazz (864)

4. Lexus RX (854)

5. Skoda Octavia (851)


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

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Blacktown goes green to beat the heat

Wendy Frew Environment Reporter
July 28, 2007

WHEN the mercury rose above 43 degrees at Blacktown on New Year's Day, 2006, air-conditioners and pool pumps worked overtime as residents sought relief from the searing temperatures that have come to characterise Sydney summers.

Residents will again seek refuge from the heat this summer but the rising income levels that have helped many of greater Blacktown's 300,000 people keep cool are also sending power bills sky high and putting huge pressure on the electricity network.

Demand for power-hungry air-conditioners on the few really hot days of the year - especially in the booming western suburbs where temperatures are higher and houses are bigger - is so strong the NSW Government is considering building a new coal-fired power plant to cope.

But an ambitious project launched today at Blacktown's Civic Plaza hopes to prove there is a cheaper, more environmentally friendly way to solve the power problem.

With a $15 million grant from the Federal Government and $22 million from consortium members, the Blacktown Solar Cities project is designed to demonstrate how a combination of solar power, smart electricity meters, energy efficiency and innovative approaches to electricity pricing can meet energy needs and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"We are making it easier to save energy, and we are making it especially easy when the sun is shining, air conditioners are running and energy use is at its heaviest," said BP Solar's regional director, Brooke Miller.

The project, which covers Blacktown Council's 47 suburbs, includes discounts of between 30 and 50 per cent on solar electricity and solar hot water systems, and ceiling insulation, as well as special peak pricing packages that encourage consumers to use less peak power in return for discounts for off-peak power.

The project is backed by BP Solar, Integral Energy, ANZ Bank, Landcom, Blacktown Council and energy efficiency expert Big Switch and runs until 2013. The consortium members hope that by avoiding an estimated 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and shaving $3 million off electricity bills each year the project will drive policy changes that favour demand management, energy efficiency and renewable energy ahead of electricity grid expansion and new power plants.

They believe if new ways of thinking about and pricing electricity catch on in Blacktown, with its mixture of old soldier settlement suburbs, housing commission homes and McMansions, and its broad cross-section of nationalities, it will work anywhere.

The Doherty family are among 1000 locals who have already registered their interest in the project.

Living on a tight budget, but maintaining a home equipped with air-conditioning, several computers and a pool, Gordon and Janet Doherty have had their energy use audited by Integral Energy, and are thinking about taking part in a trial in which their pool pump will be turned off automatically on 12 hot days over summer, during peak energy periods. It won't affect the cleanliness of the pool but should cut the family's power bill.

The family of four has already switched its lights to less energy-intensive compact fluorescent bulbs, and has begun turning off at the wall appliances that use standby power.

"Every cent you can save is vital," said Mr Doherty.

"It is sometimes 2 to 3 degrees hotter out here than in Sydney but Blacktown's electricity infrastructure is inadequate … our home computers often suffer from power surges."