Fuel-efficient driving - sustainable travelling

If you want to travel sustainably you should drive in a fuel-efficient way. Only small adjustments to your driving style will make an enormous difference in fuel consumption. Especially when fuel prices are high a lot of money can be saved through adapted driving. This is also clearly reflected in the amount of CO2 emissions. Because "economical" does not only refer to money: with a petrol consumption of eight litres per 100 kilometres on a distance of 10,000 km, not only 160 litres of petrol and 230 Euros can be saved but also 400 kg of CO2. And there's another advantage of fuel-saving driving: It brings significantly more safety to our roads.

Here you can find tips on how to adjust your driving style to make it more budget and environmentally friendly!

A gentle driving style not only creates the perfect travel flow but it also reduces fuel consumption in an essential way and ensures increased safety on the roads. But what does gentle driving actually mean? The trick is to keep your distance because if you leave enough space between you and the car in front, you can react more gentle to their driving behaviour and better compensate for speed differences. Essential for fuel-saving driving: This saves hard braking, unnecessary acceleration and thus a lot of fuel consumption and money.

Setting a vehicle in motion consumes more fuel than to keep it moving. The motto is: "Get into the right gear quickly". Gasoline-powered vehicles in particular can be sped up so that the desired gear is reached quickly.

Fuel consumption is lowest at a low speed. Early upshifts and late downshifts are therefore rewarded: if you want to drive as fuel-efficiently as possible you should drive at low revs in high gear and keep the speed consistent at best. As a rule, the least fuel is consumed between 1500 and 2500 revolutions per minute. Low revs also protect wear and tear and reduce noise pollution.

Yes: driving fast is certainly fun from time to time but beware - newsflash: speeding really doesn't help at all. Numerous studies have shown that drivers travelling at 160 km/h on the motorway consume more than 10% more fuel than those who keep their speed consistently at 130 km/h. This would basically be up to the individual. In general, this would be up to each individual but here's the catch: the fast drivers don't even arrive earlier. As a rule of thumb for fuel efficiency when drivingthe following applies: 70 to 80 percent of the maximum speed of the respective vehicle should not be exceeded; above that consumption rises disproportionately.

Fuel consumption for the first 2 kilometres of the journey lies 50% above average normal consumption. This is due to the fact that the engine is still cold shortly after starting and must first be warmed up for even and economical consumption. So it's definitely worth switching to the bike for short journeys or combining several short journeys into one long trip.

Some of the previous tips have already shown that shifting gears plays an important role in an economical and sustainable driving style. However, there is much more: Another tip for an efficient driving style is, for example, to skip gears. This allows you to reach your desired speed very quickly and saves a lot of fuel. It also allows you to make optimum use of the engine brake. So take your foot off the accelerator and the brake, use taxiways and drive in a fuel-saving way!

But does fuel- and environmentally-conscious driving also work without shifting gears at all? Many vehicles - including our campers - are equipped with automatic transmissions. If the accelerator pedal is only lightly tapped the gearbox will shift up later. Over time, the transmission adjusts to this driving style and fuel consumption is significantly reduced.

Another tip: avoid using the sport gear. This is designed for high-speed drivingwhich consumes a lot of fuel and produces CO2. A more sustainable way to save fuel is to use dynamic gear "D" and, if necessary manual shifting assistance.

The most pointless consumption occurs when the car is standing still. Why should one pay for fuel that does not even contribute to locomotion? In general, there's no reason for this: Standstills should therefore be used to switch off the engine. However, frequent shutdowns and restarts lead to increased wear and tear on the engine, starter and battery which makes the decision to shut down the engine a pure cost-benefit consideration (regular maintenance is therefore essential). Fortunately, there is also a rule of thumb for this: if the idle time is expected to be longer than 20 seconds it's worth turning off the engine. In modern vehicles, however, this decision is usually already taken by the automatic start-stop system. At level crossings switching off the engine is also mandatory.

Air conditioning, fans and auxiliary heating all draw electrical energy which is provided by the generator from the combustion engine. In other words, the electrical devices in the vehicle consume fuel. Anyone who wants to save fuel while driving should therefore only use them consciously.

Depending on the vehicle model, air conditioning, for example, leads to an increase in consumption of about 0.3 to 1.5 litres per 100 kilometres. However, it's not advisable to do without it altogether. All electrical devices in the vehicle exist primarily for the safety or well-being of the driver. They often contribute to avoiding an accident and should therefore not be switched off across the board even if electricity consumption could be kept to a minimum in this way.

The lower the resistance the more economical the acceleration process. The more energy has to be expended to bring the car to the desired speed the more fuel is consumed. And this is also at the expense of the environment. Fortunately, there are some tricks to reduce air resistance and unnecessary inertia. Don't take anything with you that is not urgently needed! To minimise air resistance it's worth removing roof boxes, bicycle racks and roof racks immediately after use. To minimise inertia reduce the amount of luggage. Especially in city traffic when you have to often stop and accelerate at traffic lights such a reduction of the load and the total weight makes a noticeable difference in the fuel consumption and pollutant emissions of the car.

Saving fuel also involves smart refuelling. If you make a strategic choice of place and time you will save a lot of fuel and cash. The following tips can help you:

Tip 1: Pay attention to the time

Fuel prices are lowest at the beginning of the week and every day shortly before noon. So the best time to fill up your tank is on Sundays or Monday mornings. Since the prices of diesel and petrol may only be adjusted once a day it's best to fill up your car shortly before noon during the week.

Tip 2: Choose petrol stations consciously

When choosing a petrol station it's especially important to avoid motorway petrol stations and to compare prices diligently.

Individual holidays by car are a good alternative to travelling by plane and all-inclusive models. In contrast to package tourism this offers an opportunity for gentle tourism and the potential to get as close to nature as possible. Whether Sweden, Portugal or Croatia: holiday destinations can be reached with maximum flexibility and the desire to travel can be lived out very individually. Nevertheless, it is important to approach travelling by car with an awareness of sustainability. Despite the possibilities of compensation, CO2 emissions are unfortunately unavoidable. It is therefore all the more important to drive in a fuel-efficient manner and to make every journey as efficient as possible: One option for this is to take others with you and form carpools. This way the journey will not only be more sustainable but also a lot more fun!