From Guest Blogger Amy: How Safe is Your Car for the Environment?
The truth of the matter is, all cars pollute. It doesn’t matter if they run on petroleum or diesel. Even hybrid and electric cars have been accused of contributing to pollution, at least indirectly. So how do you balance the necessity of driving with caring about the environment? It helps to know just how bad your car really is and what you might be able to do to minimize the damage. The main toxins that come from cars are Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, and Hydrocarbons. These chemicals are worse when they come from bigger engines and when the car is idling, which is why traffic jams cause pollution most of all. It’s important to understand the factors that determine how much pollution your vehicle generates as well as tricks you can try to make your car a little greener.
1. Fuel Consumption
Basically, cars that burn more fuel will cause more pollution, which is essentially a no-brainer. That’s why large SUVs and trucks are much more of a hazard to the environment than the average four-door sedan. Improving your fuel economy does more than help you drive greener; it also saves you a lot of money. There are several ideas for reducing the amount of gas your car consumes. It can be as simple as braking farther back or turning your air conditioning off when you don’t really need it. It’s important to remember that cars burn more fuel when they accelerate, so just by maintaining a constant speed and watching for hazards ahead, you are helping reduce pollution. Also remember the importance of traveling light. You shouldn’t drive around with equipment or stored cargo you don’t need, because it makes the car drag and costs you more in gas.
2. Idling
Reducing the amount of idling your car does every day is perhaps the easiest way to help the environment. There are times you won’t be able to help it, such as when you’re sitting at stoplights or in slow traffic, but there are also times where you don’t have to. If the traffic is stopped for more than a few seconds, you should turn your engine off. The idea that this wastes gas is a myth – you actually waste more gas by idling, and you release tailpipe emissions into the air that can be dangerous for your health and the health of your town or city. You never need to warm your car up in the morning, either. This has long ago been proven unnecessary, and your engine won’t really be warmed up until you’re driving. For every 10 minutes your car isn’t running, you stop one pound of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. That’s an incredible difference!
3. Car Maintenance
Keeping your car operating smoothly can go a long way towards improving fuel economy and reducing pollution. Many times, there can be a problem with your engine that you don’t even know about which is affecting your gas mileage, which is why it pays to have a mechanic look at the vehicle regularly. Problems with spark plugs, dirty or damaged air filters, and your fuel injection system can all affect how much fuel you burn. But there are also some simple ways you can reduce fuel consumption yourself. Make sure the gas cap is on tight enough. Nearly 150 gallons of gas per year are lost because it evaporates into the air due to a loose gas cap. Also make sure your tires have enough air in them. Driving on partially-deflated tires can severely reduce your fuel economy, and it’s such an easy fix.
4. Driving Less
You probably already know the benefits of reducing the time you spend in the car, but it’s still the number one way to be a greener driver. When you eliminate short car trips and decide to walk or bike instead, you’re helping the environment as well as yourself. Carpooling is another tried and true way to help the planet, and you should offer rides as well as accept them whenever you can. There’s no denying that carpooling decongests roads and saves everybody money. You might be lucky enough to live in an area with great public transportation, too. You don’t have to give up your car entirely, but being conscious of how much you use it means cheaper insurance, less money spent on gas, and better health for you and the environment.
Until everyone is driving biodiesel cars or some other form of clean energy is produced, it’s never going to be totally environmentally friendly to get behind the wheel. But you can be conscious of how much your driving habits affect the environment, and you can make sure your car is pumping as few pollutants as possible into the air. You may find that thinking about safe, green driving has way more benefits than one.
Amy Thomson is a blogger for Monkey.co.uk, a leading UK car insurance comparison site. Follower her on Twitter @VroomVroomAmy.
From the article:
” Many times, there can be a problem with your engine that you don’t even know about which is affecting your gas mileage, which is why it pays to have a mechanic look at the vehicle regularly.”
Modern cars are designed to go for a long time without attention to the engine. However, I suggest monitoring the fuel mileage. For decades, I have kept a small notebook in every car I’ve owned. I fill the tank every time I get fuel and write down the amount of fuel, the odometer reading, and the date. Later, I calculate the fuel mileage. An unexplained drop in fuel mileage would indicate a problem.
The times someone else has driven my car, the fuel mileage has significantly dropped because most people who think they know how to drive economically actually do not. Of course it helps to maintain a steady speed which is more easily done if one maintains a very generous following distance. One should also always use the highest gear possible without lugging the engine. And, contrary to common advice, one should not accelerate as slowly as possible since doing so increases the time spent in the lower gears while maximum fuel efficiency is not obtained until one can shift to the highest gear.
A driver who knows how to drive economically can almost always get better fuel mileage with a manual transmission. The EPA mileage figures that compare automatic transmissions with manual transmissions may be reasonable for the average driver, but someone who knows how to drive economically can beat the EPA figures for manual transmissions.
You forgot sulfides, halides, mercaptins, lead, cadmium, mercury, soot, and radioactive isotopes.
Of course, the list above is only relevant if you are choosing to drive an EV – as gasoline and diesel vehicles contribute orders of magnitude lower amounts of these emissions than EV’s.
🙂
In all seriousness. A series hybrid is the most efficient car, then high performance diesel, then mild hybrids, then high performance ICE’s, then EV’s, then low performance ICE’s (the old clunker).
Generally speaking, the smaller the piston the more efficient the vehicle will be.
DO NOT GET A VEHICLE THAT IS MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU NEED 95% of the time. It’s cheaper to just rent a truck or large car on the rare occasions you need one than to provide fuel for a V6 or V8 engine on a daily commute in the city.
Other than that, you should swap out your catalytic converter every 9 years (they last 10, but once they are loaded then you start belching out NOs, to such an extent you might be even more environmentally damaging than an EV driver), keep your tires properly inflated and balanced, get a 4-wheel alignment every 2 years, get your engine tuned every ~50,000-~70,000 miles, and change your air filter every ~10,000 miles.
As Frank mentioned, driving styles matter a lot. Coast towards known stops, and don’t attempt to accelerate faster than traffic – that just means you waste more energy in the brakes.
Finally, you can car pool, consolidate trips, bike, or walk whenever such a choice is realistic… And that’s the best you can do.
Living responsible is not living a monastic life of endless suffering and deprivation. It’s just making smarter choices.
“Living responsible is not living a monastic life of endless suffering and deprivation. It’s just making smarter choices.” Wow, that’s good.
Because I drive my car less than 3000 miles per year, I really doubt that I need to change the catalytic converter every 9 years. Actually, I ride my motorcycles more than that, but my Suzuki SV 650 gets more than 50 mpg.
Coasting can help, i.e., closing the throttle early. If one can do so without disrupting traffic, it’s a good idea to coast when the light ahead is red since then it may turn green before you reach it thereby eliminating the need to waste fuel by starting from a complete stop. It also helps to take advantage of timed lights. But for safety, be sure that if a car on the cross street runs a red light, you won’t collide with it.
Occasional rapid acceleration won’t affect fuel mileage much, but using full power too frequently will. Accelerating too slowly to merge onto a freeway disrupts traffic and is not safe and safety is more important than fuel efficiency.