Wednesday 17 December 2014

Less haste, more money

Less haste, more money

A few weeks ago I took the FuelGood driving course. It was both easy to do and informative. An Energy Saving Trust approved instructor turned up at my door and we went for a drive around town for about four miles, with me adopting my normal driving style. He then explained what I could do better and more efficiently and then we went on exactly the same course but this time he mentored me on what to do.

The results were impressive. On my first ‘normal’ drive I averaged 31.4 miles to the gallon but on the second it went up to 39.2; an improvement of 25%. My average speed dropped a little from 19.8mph to 18.5mph, so it took me a little longer, but in the grand scheme of things it was only a little longer. The whole thing took about an hour and it has changed my driving styleon an on-going basis.

Being an accountant at heart I decided to do some maths. Let’s say that I drive 500 miles in and around town each month – how much money would I save and how much extra time would I be behind the wheel? By my back of the envelope calculations, I would be over £18 better off having spent slightly more than an extra three minutes behind the wheel, each day. Not a bad trade off and the driving style is also safer and less stressful. An hour well spent.

Find out more about FuelGood here.o