NeilBlanchard
Well-known member
Greetings,
I've been ecodriving for almost 5 years now, and I've lowered my energy cost by at least 50% average all year round. Even though I drive an ICE (until I finish building my CarBEN EV5 project), the basic principles are the same for all drivetrains. Here's an episode of Chronicle that I was on, along with several other ecodrivers:
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Thurs...3032/14691008/-/pubkd8z/-/index.html#comments
Segment one [Blanchard hypermiler, Million Mile Joe].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Beating-gas-pains/-/12523032/14865358/-/xnrewx/-/index.html
Segment two [propane car, Leaf, CarBEN EV5, Fisker Karma].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Driving-alternatives/-/12523032/14865454/-/ctcrfwz/-/index.html
Segment three [Hobbit hypermiler, Blanchard, Chang 118 mpg].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Secrets-of-the-hypermilers/-/12523032/14865532/-/6r2wryz/-/index.html
Segment four [Hobbit, MIT Solar Vehicle].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Looking-to-the-future/-/12523032/14865524/-/idq6n6/-/index.html
My most recent blog post on ecodriving: http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2012/05/ecodriving-aka-hypermiling.html
I've rewritten the main part to apply only to EV's:
There are three possible modes of driving:
1) Accelerating 2) Coasting 3) Decelerating
Accelerating uses energy, depending on the weight of the car, the steepness of the grade, and the rate of acceleration.
Coasting uses no added energy, and it uses the accumulated momentum / kinetic energy gained by the acceleration. It only loses energy to aerodynamic and rolling drag.
Decelerating loses energy to energy to aerodynamic and rolling drag and converting kinetic energy to back into electricity and loss in the charger, and if you resort to the friction brakes, heat.
To be the most efficient, we need to minimize the energy it takes to accelerate and the energy lost through regenerative braking, and we need the car to lose a minimum amount of kinetic energy by being as low aerodynamic and rolling drag as possible.
To cover the most distance with the least energy, we need to accelerate up to a speed that will then allow the car to coast as close to the end as possible, and then use regenerative braking to make reuse as much of the remaining kinetic energy as possible. The friction brakes needs to stay as cool as possible.
I've been ecodriving for almost 5 years now, and I've lowered my energy cost by at least 50% average all year round. Even though I drive an ICE (until I finish building my CarBEN EV5 project), the basic principles are the same for all drivetrains. Here's an episode of Chronicle that I was on, along with several other ecodrivers:
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Thurs...3032/14691008/-/pubkd8z/-/index.html#comments
Segment one [Blanchard hypermiler, Million Mile Joe].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Beating-gas-pains/-/12523032/14865358/-/xnrewx/-/index.html
Segment two [propane car, Leaf, CarBEN EV5, Fisker Karma].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Driving-alternatives/-/12523032/14865454/-/ctcrfwz/-/index.html
Segment three [Hobbit hypermiler, Blanchard, Chang 118 mpg].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Secrets-of-the-hypermilers/-/12523032/14865532/-/6r2wryz/-/index.html
Segment four [Hobbit, MIT Solar Vehicle].
http://www.wcvb.com/chronicle/Looking-to-the-future/-/12523032/14865524/-/idq6n6/-/index.html
My most recent blog post on ecodriving: http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2012/05/ecodriving-aka-hypermiling.html
I've rewritten the main part to apply only to EV's:
There are three possible modes of driving:
1) Accelerating 2) Coasting 3) Decelerating
Accelerating uses energy, depending on the weight of the car, the steepness of the grade, and the rate of acceleration.
Coasting uses no added energy, and it uses the accumulated momentum / kinetic energy gained by the acceleration. It only loses energy to aerodynamic and rolling drag.
Decelerating loses energy to energy to aerodynamic and rolling drag and converting kinetic energy to back into electricity and loss in the charger, and if you resort to the friction brakes, heat.
To be the most efficient, we need to minimize the energy it takes to accelerate and the energy lost through regenerative braking, and we need the car to lose a minimum amount of kinetic energy by being as low aerodynamic and rolling drag as possible.
To cover the most distance with the least energy, we need to accelerate up to a speed that will then allow the car to coast as close to the end as possible, and then use regenerative braking to make reuse as much of the remaining kinetic energy as possible. The friction brakes needs to stay as cool as possible.