Gas prices have gone up in a crazy way the past few months. The price of gas is now P58/liter! Up from P40/liter just a few months ago.

It’s almost a sin to drive a Ford Expedition to Baguio now. With the current prices and the average gas mileage of an Expedition (around 4liters/km), you would spend around P5,000.00 to go up to Baguio and another P5,000.00 to go back down. That’s P10,000.00 for a Baguio trip!

If anything good can come out of this whole situation, it will be in really forcing us to look at alternative sources of fuel like LPG, hydrogen, CNG or even solar power. I hope someone in Malacanang is reading my blog and tells the President.

But until that time comes, here are tips that might help you save on precious gasoline.

1) Buy gasoline during the coolest time of day - early morning or late evening is best. Gas pumps measure volume of gasoline, not density of fuel concentration. You are charged according to “volume of measurement”. And when it’s cool, gasoline is densest; so you get more gasoline during these times than when it’s hot and gasoline is thinnest. Additional tip: fill up on a Tuesday or Wednesday. Prices are usually raised for the week-end or holidays as more people are driving and the demand is greater.

2) Don’t start and stop engine needlessly. Idling your engine for one minute consumes the gas amount equivalent to when you start the engine. But any time you foresee that you will not be moving for more than 30seconds or 1 minute you should turn off the engine–like when you’re waiting at long traffic light sequences, or while your better half withdraws money from the ATM.

3) Avoid prolonged warming up of engine - 30 to 45 seconds is already a lot of time for the engine to get warmed up.

4) Turn off air conditioner if possible. The compressor for the air conditioner loads the motor of the car more, using up fuel. Park your car in the shade if you can. Roll down the windows just a tiny bit, so the air can circulate through your car while you are parked (beware of theft though). If it’s really too hot, and you really need to use the aircon, then turn off the AC 5 minutes before you reach your destination.

5) Roll Up the Windows. When the windows are down it allows air into the car creating resistance against the wind which decreases gas mileage as the car has to work harder to accelerate. Use the outside air vent to bring in fresh air as much as possible since running the air conditioner lowers gas mileage as well (tip #4).

6) Reduce weight in the car. Some physics 101: force equals mass times acceleration (yeah yeah, you probably know that already) So you can try to reduce the mass of your car by emptying out the trunk and removing heavy items that you don’t need (keep your spare tire and car lift, but get rid of the golf bag and gardening equipment). This will effectively reduce the mass and you’ll use a lot less gas that way.

7) If you have a manual transmission and want to save some gas, you need to shift up early and shift down late. Manual shift driven cars allow you to change to highest gear as soon as possible, letting you save gas in the process. Traveling at fast rates in low gears can consume up to 45% more fuel than is needed.

8) Avoid rough roads whenever possible, because dirt or gravel rob you of up to 30% of your gas mileage.

9) Use alternate roads when safer, shorter, straighter. Compare traveling distance differences - but remember that corners, curves and lane jumping requires extra gas. The shortest distance between two points is always straight.

10) Park car so that you can later begin to travel in forward gear; avoid reverse gear maneuvers to save gas. Besides it’s more convenient when you’re in a hurry later on.

11) Use a small car. Remember that mass and acceleration equation in #6? Well, a small car always has a better fuel economy due to its smaller mass. If you are in the market for a new car, you definitely should consider this.

12) Carpool. Only if this is possible and only if you have reliable people you can carpool with. If two people are riding in one car, the gas used per person is immediately cut in half. If 4 people are sharing a ride, then you can split the gas bill in four. Back in college, my classmates who lived in Alabang did this.
Its not always feasible though. My bestfriend Marven told me that what they did in their city of Valencia was to combine trips. If someone was going to the nearby city of Cagayan de Oro to buy supplies, they made sure there was an additional assignment for the person, like pay bills or make a transaction with a government office. By planning and combining trips for errands, shopping, etc. you can save not only in gas but in time and wear and tear on your car.

13) Practice Safe Driving. Aggressive driving (i.e. weaving in and out of traffic and fast acceleration and braking) is not only a hazard but can lower your gas mileage as much as one third.

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