How to reduce costs with a car without investing a penny
Your private or company car is an essential means of mobility for you, but it but it causes monthly costs for you, which have increased over the past period due to more expensive fuel or electric energy for charging, tires, insurance and registration and maintenance overall. And so you found yourself in a seemingly hopeless situation of ever-increasing costs.
That’s why we would like to draw your attention to rules and tips that we believe you already know, you just need to be briefly reminded. With those rules, you can save on car costs without spending a penny.
All you need to do is invest some caution and driving skills that are kept somewhere in your memory, and you can start saving now when it's needed more than ever.
Before winter just starts, check the tire pressure - it is recommended to check it at least once a month. With tires underinflated by 0.5 bar, you will burn at least five percent more fuel than if the tires are filled to the prescribed pressure.
Let's put ourselves in winter time. It's snowing outside, the temperature has dropped below zero. The car has frozen windows; the engine is cold and makes a loud noise, as if it had a cold. What if we warmed up the windows, warmed up the engine, read e-mail messages in the meantime and in five minutes got into the warmed-up car and drove away.
First of all, just think what if all the inhabitants of the city started their day like that. We would find ourselves in a cloud of exhaust gases. Moreover, in those five or ten minutes, you would use half a liter of fuel. Doing that every day, for a whole month, you wasted 15 euros in one month.
To avoid this, clean the windows with a plastic scraper and drive away as soon as you start the engine. In addition, never, even in winter, warm up the engine in place. To reduce consumption, always drive calmly, respect the safety distance and predict the traffic.
If the automatic transmission does not do this, as soon as we cross the length of the vehicle, we shift from the first gear in the manual transmission into a higher gear, which means at approximately 1,500 revs for diesel engines and 2,500 revs for gasoline engines. When changing gears up or down, we can skip gears, for example, from fourth to sixth or vice versa. Driving at high revs can result in up to 50 percent more fuel consumption.
Avoid high speeds and accelerate gradually. It is true that every time we add gas, we increase fuel consumption. Stick to the speed limit, with this kind of driving, you can save lives and fuel at the same time.
In a car with an electric engine, smooth and non-aggressive acceleration is key. Any full acceleration results in excessive energy consumption. In addition, it is crucial to use the brakes as little as possible and use regenerative braking to charge the battery instead.
Don't forget about the air conditioning. It is not meant only for cooling the cabin, but also ensures a reduction in humidity. In addition, the air conditioner can break down faster, if it is not running for a long time.
Use cruise control, which can reduce fuel consumption by up to five percent. Most of today's cars are equipped as standard with a start&stop system that turns off the engine when it comes to a stop. If your car is not equipped with this system, turn it off yourself when you stop.
And finally – regularly maintain your vehicle and perform services, this way you will reduce fuel consumption by five to 20 percent.