| 1. PAY ATTENTION TO THE HOW AS WELL AS WHAT | While driving a fuel-efficient vehicle can be one way to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, how you drive can be just as important as what you drive. |
| 2. AVOID QUICK STARTS AND AGRESSIVE DRIVING | Flooring the accelerator can produce high pollution rates and wastes fuel. One second of high-powered driving can produce nearly the same volume of carbon monoxide (air pollution) emissions as a half hour of normal driving. Comparative tests by NRMA in the same vehicle model using "aggressive" compared with "smooth" drivers showed differences in fuel consumption of 35 per cent. |
| 3. STICK WITHIN THE SPEED LIMIT | Driving 90km an hour instead of 110km on the highway can improve your fuel economy by about 15%, according to NRMA Motoring & Services studies (but remember to move to the left hand lane if you are moving more slowly than the majority of the traffic). |
| 4. AVOID HARD BRAKING | Especially in traffic, try to anticipate stops rather than breaking hard, including coasting towards red lights ahead to try to catch the green light. This will prevent increased greenhouse gas and smog pollution, wasted fuel and wear on your brakes. |
| 5. E TOLLS CAN SAVE TOO | International studies show that electronic toll collection, avoiding cash payment lines at toll booths, reduces the emissions that contribute to global warming and smog pollution by avoiding stopping and restarting. |
| 6. USE GPS | Some GPS navigation systems provide real-time traffic alerts which help avoid traffic jams and road construction, and eliminates the extra driving that results through getting lost. Anything that reduces unnecessary driving time reduces emissions - and saves you money on gas. |
| 7. LISTEN TO THE RADIO | Keep an ear on radio traffic reports to help you time your trips and avoid gridlock, accidents and other fuel-burning barriers to a smooth journey. Sometimes you need to change your route, sometimes your time of travel. |
| 8. TRY NOT TO IDLE | Try not to idle for more than 60 seconds: Idling your engine generates more pollution than driving, and it wastes fuel. Switch off if you aren’t going anywhere. |
| 9. USE CRUISE CONTROL | Cruise control will help you maintain a steady, constant speed, which will reduce the need for acceleration and braking – therefore cutting fuel consumption and pollution.. |
| 10. OPEN YOUR WINDOWS | Open your windows before turning on the air conditioner: Removing the hot air before turning on the air conditioning will reduce fuel consumption and nitrogen oxide emissions in some vehicles. |
| 11. WARM UP ENGINE AS YOU GO | If you live in the warmer climates, begin driving slowly as soon as you start your engine (but be careful not to accelerate heavily until your engine has had time to warm up) |
| 12. DONT BE TOO COOL | Air conditioning should be limited as it uses more fuel. |
| 13. AVOID UNNECESSARY TRIPS | Do you really need to go to the store right now? Make a list and go on you way home from work tomorrow. Five jobs on the one trip makes a lot more sense than five separate trips.. |
| 14. BUY NEARLY NEW | Try not to buy a brand new car unless you absolutely have to. Be aware however, that newer vehicles pollute less and tend to be more environmentally efficient. Demonstrator vehicles and newish used cars still under manufacturer’s warranty are good options. |
| 15. RELIABILITY IS THE KEY | Reliability is the key with car ownership. Once a vehicle becomes unreliable sell it, or retire it altogether, as it will most likely use more fuel and pollute more as well as rack up repair bills. You can protect yourself against unexpected repair bills by buying a car warranty including used cars from the right dealers. |
| 16. DRIVE WITH WINDOWS UP WHERE POSSIBLE | Driving with windows down increases drag and makes your fuel consumption less efficient, especially at higher speeds. It can be very noisy too! |
| 17. TRY NOT TO BE IN A HURRY | Stressed driving can be erratic and is uneconomical. Simply relax and try to enjoy the trip – having made sure you know where you are going and the best route to get there, because getting lost creates stress (not to mention relationship strife and road rage). |
| 18. DONT TRY TO BEAT THE LIGHTS | The chances are that if you hit a red light and then try to beat all the following lights, you will rush but miss them anyway. If you drive at a more sedate speed you will usually find that by the time you reach the next light it will have turned green again. |
| 19. CONSIDER SHARING A CAR | Look at formal sharing arrangements with friends, family, neighbours, and there are car clubs offering sensible alternatives to private car ownership. If you drive less than 10,000km a year, is car ownership really the best option? |
| 20.KNOW THE TRUE COST | Make sure you know the true cost of car ownership: Many people don’t notice the true costs of running a car, but when you add up the cost of fuel, taxes and registration fees, servicing, repairs, tolls, fines, depreciation and parking you can easily be up for $200-plus a week. Look for a good car cost calculator. We like this one from NRMA. |
| 21.SIZE MATTERS ON THE ROAD | Buy as small as you can for your day-to-day needs. You may decide you need a big car because you have relatives that live a long way away. But if you only visit them twice a year, however, and most of your driving is done in an 80km radius of your home a big car may be inefficient. By buying a smaller car for the majority of driving and renting a bigger car for the long trips you will save money and pollution. |
| 22. FUEL EFFICIENCY | Buy a fuel-efficient car. The fuel economy of similar-sized cars using the same type of fuel can vary substantially - by as much as 45% according to some sources. The Australian Government’s Green Vehicle Guide (Google it) offers an accurate assessment of all cars on the market based on both greenhouse gas pollution and smog pollution. |
| 23. SHORT JOURNEYS | Do not use a car for short journeys: If your journey is less than a kilometre then walk or cycle. It’s good for you, your budget and the environment. |
| 24. LIGHTEN THE LOAD | Watch your weight, lighten the load: Reduce weight, and fuel consumption, by simply removing unnecessary items from your car that do not need to be there for a particular journey. These can include buggies, golf clubs, tools, footwear, picnic and camping gear and lots of other stuff too. NRMA tests demonstrated that loading a vehicle up to its rated maximum increased fuel consumption by 24 per cent. |
| 25. THE ROOF RACKS | Remove roof racks when not in use: The wind resistance dramatically increases fuel consumption, so take off the racks and luggage capsules when you’re not using them. Depending on the type of driving you do, it can increase fuel consumption by up to 5 per cent. |
| 26. TYRE PRESSURE | Tyre pressure makes a difference: Ensure that you have the correct tyre pressure. Every 6psi the tyre is under-inflated the fuel consumption increases by 1%. It’s one of those little things that makes quite a difference, and in only takes minutes at the garage to fix. |
| 27. MAINTENANCE | Maintain your car: Check that your engine is properly tuned as this improves performance and limits fuel consumption. Getting a check up and a tune up before big trips is always a good idea. |
| 28. REFUELLING | Don’t overdo it when refueling: Avoid overfilling the tank as spilled fuel evaporates and releases harmful emissions. |
| 29. CAR-POOLING | Car-pooling is worth a go: If you really want to cut down on your fuel usage, car-pooling is a great way to do it. When two (or more) people buddy up and ride together, the number of cars on the road drops and fuel, pollution and money are saved. |
| 30. TELECOMMUTING | Telecommuting to cut trips: Working from home is growing in popularity. While not every job suits this option, many of us can do our jobs most days with just a computer, a phone and a high-speed Internet connection. There are a number of different approaches to working from home. Some workers do it full-time, while others do it a few days a week or month. |
| 31. NRMA | Join a motoring club: It’s well worth the modest annual fee to join a motorists support organisation. They help you with great advice, including on saving money and helping to protect the environment, and if something goes wrong they are there with efficient and timely help. Our partner for DRIVE is the NRMA in NSW. |