Eco-friendly driving habits that save money

Why your driving style matters more than you think

Two drivers in identical cars, on the same journey, can easily see their fuel economy differ by 20% or more. It comes down to how they use the pedals. The way you pull away, the speed you settle into, and how long you leave the engine running all stack up over a year of driving.

For a typical UK driver covering 8,000 miles a year in a petrol hatchback, smoothing out the rough edges of your driving can realistically save £150 to £250 annually — and considerably more if you drive a larger car or spend a lot of time on motorways. The same habits cut your tailpipe emissions and put less strain on your brakes, tyres and clutch, which means fewer trips to the garage. None of it requires a new car, a gadget, or any particular technical skill. It is simply a matter of paying attention to a few things you probably already do on autopilot.

Accelerate gently and read the road ahead

Hard acceleration is the single biggest fuel waster in everyday driving. When you push the accelerator towards the floor, the engine runs rich, the gearbox holds lower gears longer, and most of that extra energy ends up as heat in your brake discs a few hundred yards later.

Instead, build speed progressively. In a petrol car, aim to change up at around 2,000 to 2,500 rpm; a modern diesel will happily pull from lower down still. You should reach your intended speed using roughly half the throttle you might instinctively use. It feels slow for the first week, then it feels normal.

Just as important is looking further ahead. Scan the traffic three or four cars in front rather than staring at the bumper ahead. If you can see a red light, a roundabout or a queue forming, lift off the accelerator early and let the car slow naturally. Coasting towards a junction on a closed throttle uses almost no fuel at all, because most modern engines cut injection entirely on the overrun. Racing up to the lights and braking hard does the opposite.

• Anticipate stopped traffic and ease off well in advance
• Avoid weaving between lanes to gain a few car lengths — it rarely saves time
• On hills, keep a light, steady throttle rather than accelerating hard up the slope

Find your steady cruising speed

Aerodynamic drag rises with the square of your speed, which is why fuel economy falls away so sharply above about 60 mph. On a motorway, dropping from 70 mph to 60 mph typically improves fuel consumption by 15% or so. On a long journey that can be the difference between one fuel stop and two, and it costs you only a few minutes.

Once you are at a sensible speed, hold it. Constant throttle is far more efficient than a cycle of speeding up and slowing down. Cruise control is useful on flat, quiet motorways, but switch it off in hilly terrain or heavy traffic — it will happily pour fuel in to maintain a set speed up a slope when a human would simply let the car slow a little. On A-roads, aim for smooth, gentle inputs rather than a series of small corrections.

Cut the idling — it costs more than you think

An idling engine returns exactly zero miles per gallon. Depending on engine size, you are burning somewhere between half a litre and a litre of fuel every hour while stationary, and pumping out emissions for no benefit whatsoever.

If you are going to be stopped for more than about a minute — waiting at a level crossing, a long set of roadworks, or outside a school at pick-up time — switch the engine off. Many modern cars do this automatically, but plenty of drivers override the system out of habit.

There is also a persistent myth worth retiring: you do not need to warm a modern car up on the driveway. Idling from cold is inefficient and wears the engine more than gentle driving does. Start up, clear the windows, and drive off gently — the engine warms through faster and uses less fuel that way. On frosty mornings, scrape the ice properly rather than leaving the engine running for ten minutes while you search for the scraper.

Lighten the load and tidy up the aerodynamics

Every extra kilogram has to be accelerated and braked, and every bit of drag has to be pushed through the air. Both cost fuel.

• Empty the boot of unnecessary weight — a set of golf clubs or a box of tools left in permanently adds up over thousands of miles
• Remove roof bars and roof boxes when they are not in use; a roof box can increase fuel consumption by 10% or more at motorway speeds
• Take off bike racks you are not using, and keep windows closed at higher speeds where open windows create noticeable drag
• Use air conditioning sensibly — it can add up to 10% to fuel use, so at low speeds in town, opening a window is often the better trade

Small maintenance habits with a real payoff

Mechanical neglect quietly erodes your fuel economy. Under-inflated tyres increase rolling resistance, so check pressures at least once a month and before long journeys, using the figures in the door shut or handbook rather than the maximum printed on the sidewall. Check them when the tyres are cold, and remember that a fully loaded car needs higher pressures, particularly at the rear.

Keep up with servicing, and pay attention to the air filter and engine oil — the correct grade of oil genuinely affects efficiency. If your car pulls to one side or the steering wheel sits off-centre, get the wheel alignment checked; misaligned wheels scrub sideways and waste fuel as well as wearing tyres unevenly.

Finally, think about the journey itself. Combining several errands into one trip saves fuel because the engine is already warm, and a short detour to avoid a congested junction is often quicker as well as cheaper. Cold engines are thirsty engines, which is why a series of two-mile hops around town will always look terrible on the trip computer. Where you can, walk or cycle the shortest trips — those are the ones that cost the most per mile to drive.