Hypermiling: The new driving technique that could save you ‘up to £600 a year’ in fuel costs

As petrol and diesel costs soar to record highs, drivers across the country are doing everything in their power to keep their fuel consumption as low as possible.

While some are cutting down on their milage by catching the bus into work, there are some people out there who have adopted the art of ‘hypermiling’. 

The hypermile technique involves a driver frequently changing their driving habits to maximise fuel efficiency and, ultimately, save a hefty sum of money in fuel costs.

One avid hypermiler, Kevin Brooker from Swansea, is a Guinness World Record holder, and claims to have saved over £600 a year thanks to the nifty technique. 

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In an interview with The Guardian, the forty-four year old National Park worker said he first started hypermiling in an attempt to make his daily seventy-mile trip a little more interesting. 

He said: “It was almost a way to gamify it… to get the fuel I was using to go further. I was learning the techniques to get the most out of that gallon.

Read More: Expert reveals tips on how to spend less on petrol and diesel as prices reach record highs

“The bonus was I was saving money. Over a month, I could save up to £50 without really increasing my journey time. Most cars have a range metre now, telling you how many miles you have left. You do find you try to go further than the car thinks it can go on the fuel you’ve got.”

Kevin says the hypermiling techniques to save the most pennies are driving as slowly as is reasonable and in the highest possible gear without labouring the engine, all while avoiding any harsh acceleration or braking.

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He said: “Read the road ahead for traffic lights and roundabouts, so you always keep moving. If there’s a green light a fair distance off, there’s a high probability it will be red by the time you get to it.

“It’s all about pacing, so you get there when it’s green. With roundabouts, feed into them rather than stop.”

Kevin also advised drivers to look at potentially switching their cars – he now drives a Hyundai Ioniq electric car, which costs around 97p for a round trip, despite soaring electricity prices.

This comes after the International Energy Agency (IEA) proposed a series of new rules and regulations to curb the cost of fuel, including a Sunday driving ban in major cities and a speed limit reduction on motorways.