New MPG Record!

Its official-I am a Centurion!

Last Friday on a return trips from a garden install (yes I install gardens using an Insight!) I achieved the insane 102.2 MPG over the same 17 mile commute that I had previously achieved the impressive 92.8 numbers of LY.

Other than being able to apply all the subtle learning’s that I have gained in the past 14 months of hypermiling, the single biggest difference is so simple as to be embarrassing. My commute has a 5 mile stretch that is hilly. Now I have always said that my record runs are not normal driving-I rarely break 55mph and I use back county roads, creeping up hills and coasting down them. But as these are public roads I would also always keep the speed over 45mph or so. That is absolutely fine with the exception of 3 of the hills that I must dip pretty hard into the throttle to maintain 45mph up the steeper inclines. For some reason this time I thought “Why not just throw the blinkers on and climb them at 100mpg?”. What the hell! Actually on only one did I have to resort to the blinkers to get someone to pass as I crawled up at 39mph (in a 55 zone), but the mental shift of not having to dip into the gas engine was enough to earn me inclusion into that elite status of the 100+ MPG club.

I know this was a purely academic exercise, but the proof is there- 100mpg commuting is possible with current technology. Sure the commute took longer, but I made it from work to home, in an internal combustion powered car and averaged over 100mpg.

Be the Change.