When a traffic light turns green, Dan Kroushl is unlikely to be the first driver out of the gate. He won’t floor the gas pedal, and he never drives over the speed limit.
Instead, he eases forward by lightly pressing the accelerator, and the moment he sees a yellow light, he gently taps the brakes.
These techniques and others make Mr. Kroushl, 61, a so-called hypermiler, a driver who squeezes as many miles as possible out of each gallon of gas. And after a summer of soaring gas prices driven by the war in Iran, hypermilers like Mr. Kroushl say their strategies can help drivers who are feeling pinched at the pump make the most of every gallon.
“People think when they are pumping gas: I can’t do anything about it,” Bradlee Fons, 74, a fellow hypermiler, said of the increased gas prices. “I tell them, ‘You’re in total control.’ People can control their fuel costs.”
Hypermilers mostly aim to maximize fuel efficiency by driving smoothly, without hard stops or starts. But sometimes they employ more extreme measures, like not using air conditioning or removing a vehicle’s interior door panels to reduce its weight.
It’s both a lifestyle choice and a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the hypermilers say, but they think some of their strategies could be useful to regular, everyday drivers looking to save on fillups.
Gas prices have risen sharply since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, freezing the flow of energy from the Persian Gulf. As fighting in Iran intensified last week, diesel fuel prices hit a record high in the United States, with gas prices up nearly 40 percent, according to the AAA motor club.
As of Sunday, regular gas costs an average of $4.14 per gallon, though prices vary in different states. According to AAA, it is the highest price for a gallon of regular gas on Labor Day weekend, though that does not account for inflation.
With a few tweaks, Mr. Fons said, drivers can easily save 30 percent or more on their gas bill.
“Drivers do not have to be at the mercy of the government, the high gas prices or anything else,” he said. “They have options.”
The 2017 Toyota Prius that Mr. Fons drives in his home in Jackson, Wis., just north of Milwaukee, is estimated to achieve 52 miles per gallon, according to its official E.P.A. rating. But, Mr. Fons said, he gets 83.2 miles per gallon by driving with fuel economy in mind.
Mr. Fons, who started a nonprofit organization called Drive Smart Wisconsin, keeps a list of simple techniques that he said any driver can use to save money on gas. At the top of the list is “nonaggressive driving,” which he defined as moving smoothly and purposefully. Other strategies include completing multiple errands in one trip so the car does not use extra fuel to warm up, and keeping up with vehicle maintenance.
Most cars are at peak fuel efficiency between 45 and 65 miles per hour. Hypermilers recommend staying in that range and not going over the speed limit on the highway. Driving faster causes the vehicle’s drag to increase, reducing fuel mileage at an exponential rate.
Hypermilers also avoid unnecessary braking, which eats up fuel, and they accelerate slowly when starting from a complete stop. They anticipate slowdowns ahead.
“You work the gas so you’re barely holding the speed you want to hold,” explained Bruce Gregersen, 79, a hypermiler who lives in St. Cloud, Minn. “It takes a little more concentration, but once you get used to it, you’ll do it automatically.”
Hybrid cars, which combine a traditional gasoline-powered engine with one or more electric motors and a battery pack, offer greater fuel efficiency and are the vehicle of choice for many hypermilers.
Bob Winger, 71, a Williamsburg, Va., resident, is part of a group of hypermile enthusiasts who have set multiple world records for fuel efficiency, including one for the lowest consumption of fuel in a non-hybrid vehicle driving through all 48 contiguous states. Mr. Winger said they had set that record by using techniques such as “ridge riding,” in which the passenger-side wheel moves along the white paint stripe on a highway because the friction is lower there than on the asphalt.
Such extremes are not necessary unless one is trying to set a world record, Mr. Winger said. Instead, he said, drivers can achieve greater mileage by doing simple things like making sure their tires are properly inflated, which helps decrease resistance. Using full synthetic oil in the engine reduces friction within the engine, he added.
“You don’t have to do crazy stuff,” he said. “Just driving conservatively, you can save without really pulling out all the tools in the toolbox.”
Susan C. Beachy and Georgia Gee contributed research.
