Eco driving tips

Smarter driving can help you cut your fuel consumption by up to 15% and annual running costs by £200-250. The following tips can help you achieve it:

• Consider travelling at a quieter time of day
• Use our journey planner to find your best route
• When accelerating, change up to a higher gear early – between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm.
• Cut your speed. At 85 miles per hour (mph) a car uses approximately 25% more fuel than at 70mph. The optimum driving speed for fuel efficiency is usually around 50 mph.
• Anticipate the road conditions ahead. Avoid unnecessary breaking and acceleration.
• Step off the accelerator when going downhill or slowing down. Make sure you remain in gear – coasting uses more fuel and can be dangerous.
• Don’t carry unnecessary weight around. Remove heavy items from your car when they’re not needed. Remove roof racks and bike racks when they’re not being used. They make a car less aerodynamic and greatly increase fuel consumption at higher speeds. Similarly, keep windows closed at speeds of over 45 mph to reduce air resistance.
• Use Air Conditioning sparingly, as this uses fuel.
• Make sure your tyres are correctly inflated.
• Turn off your engine if you think you’ll be stationary for more than a minute.
• Try to avoid using the car for short journeys as cold engines burn more fuel. It is often quicker and cheaper to walk or cycle instead.
• Find someone to share your car journeys and cut your fuel and parking costs.

Did you know? 
Turning off an engine and restarting it after a minute or longer causes less pollution than keeping the engine idling and uses less fuel.