Hypermilers squeeze every last drop out of their fuel economy
Your hybrid only gets 47 miles per gallon? Too bad for you, sucka. A small group deeming themselves “hypermilers” has adjusted driving habits to use the teeniest amount of gas possible, and boasts of achieving up to 112.2 mpg. These bad-ass fuel economizers have moved beyond everyday gas-saving techniques like smooth acceleration and consistent speed; they over-inflate tires, coast out of parking lots without turning the car on, draft off of larger vehicles, and drive below the freeway speed limit (way slower if no one’s behind them). “When I see someone roar past me, I think, ‘They just used enough gas to last me a week,'” says hypermiler Laurie With. So you wanna be a hypermiler? You must learn to “pulse and glide”: accelerate above the speed limit, then shut down the engine and glide to a slower speed. Sure it’s dangerous, and also illegal in many places — but when you’re driving 35 miles per hour on the freeway, you’ve gotta get your rush somehow.
