I've considered driving a hybrid, but there are several reasons you might want to try something else. For one, if you're used to driving long distances, then your battery will likely not get a chance to kick in. If it's not kicking in then you're simply carrying all that extra weight around with you. If your driving is largely in the city, then you might be better off getting a pure electric car. As long as all your driving is done within the radius, then you have no problem. However if you're planning on taking longer car trips, then you may have to stretch it out over several days. A cross country trip can take a month or more.
This isn't to say that hybrids aren't worth the money. A friend of mine bought one, and took a lot of mocking from his friends (not me of course), they weren't laughing when the prices skyrocketed. He drove mostly locally, and took the occasional long trip for work, so he made excellent use of it. The savings he earned bought him a very nice laptop.
Unfortunately, I don't have to worry too much about this, since I'm very likely not going to be able to afford one. Instead I'm going to be driving my 1995 Isuzu Trooper for many, many.... many more years. But that doesn't mean I can't do some simple maintenance and take some nice tips to make my care cleaner and more efficient and last me a long, long time.
Keep A Cool Head: Slow down! This one may be a little tough, but with a bit of patience you'll surely get used to it. If you don't jam the accelerator as hard as you can, you'll find that you'll actually save on gas as well as the environment. It turns out that most cars are their most efficient when driving around the speed limit (or maybe it was the other way arround) either way if you keep a steady pace and don't speed, you'll find that your gas budget goes much longer. Not only will you be saving on fuel, but you'll be saving the planet. Bonus!
There is another part to this trick as well. If you accelerate (and break) at a steady pace, you'll burn much less fuel than if you instantly tried to rocket back up to cruising speed after each stop. For that matter stop-and-go traffic is horrible for your fuel efficiency. Ever wonder why your efficiency is rated one value in city, and another on highway. It's becuase there is a huge difference in city and highway driving. If you can take a route that allows more steady driving, you'll find yourself better off in the long run.
Keep a Cool Body: My windows refused to work the other day. It was about 96 outside and approximately a third of the temperature of the surface of the sun inside, so you have my fondest sympathies if you drive a warm vehicle. However the A/C is not the answer. Even if it is, it's not a bad idea to supplement the cooling with something else. Before you get in the car, give it a few minutes to cool out, with windows down or door open. While you're driving, take some time to get the warm air out of your way and keep the cool air where it should be, in your car. If you must use your A/C make the most of it.
Now if you're like me... you're probably worried about your hair when you roll the windows down. Yes, this is a serious concern of mine, and for a long time had me favoring the cool breeze of my air conditioner. However there is a nice little trick you might be able to employ as I have. Turbulent air flows come from air that can't really flow. Air wants to enter somewhere and exit somewhere else, if you only have a single window down, then you'll get a bunch of turbulent air. If you open two opposite windows, say your front passenger and rear driver windows, you'll create a nice cross breeze and keep the air moving as well as keeping it out of your hair.
If you've enjoyed these tips, check out greenercars.org for some more wonderful ideas!
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