Over two weekends, five people were recently trained to become fuel-efficient driver coaches with Vancouver BC-based Sustainable Community Enterprise. The small firm caters to business and government, and offers several services aimed at reducing waste, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions from day-to-day operations.
The new coaches will spread out around BC to help people save money and fuel, improve safety and drive in a way that enables the Province to meet its formidable climate change reduction targets. These benefits are real and measurable. Other big pluses include quieter city streets, less maintenance costs, and more peace of mind (ie less road rage). Not bad during your commute!
“The Fuel-smart Driving program’s biggest advantages are that it is universal and useful. It can be used effectively by anyone, anywhere, of any age and ability, in any type of vehicle,” says Nicholas Lamm, Greenworkplace Manager.Overall savings in fuel consumption of as much as 30% have been realized. The basic goal is reducing the amount of time the engine is running at high RPM (revolutions per minute over 2,000). Three major principles are key to achieving this goal:
- Maintain a healthy three second or more buffer zone between your vehicle and the vehicle in front
- Scanning ahead 500 to 1,000 meters to anticipate obstacles and hazards
- Reducing the number of stops and starts by using and conserving the vehicles momentum
A number of other seemingly obvious but often overlooked points are covered in the coaching session, like proper tire pressure, regular vehicle maintenance, and removing excess weight from the vehicle. Also, acceleration and speed are not the same thing!
The program was designed by combining Germany’s ‘eco-driving’ material with Fuel$ense driving, an element of the former Canadian Liberal governments climate change efforts. The three objectives are improving safety on the road, fuel and money savings, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since driving is a dynamic, real-time activity, the experiential nature of the Greenworkplace Program’s fuel-efficient driver service makes a big difference to the client successfully learning the techniques, and realizing the potential fuel savings of 25-30%. This number will vary from driver to driver, and vehicle to vehicle, but everyone who observes the basic physics and logic of the techniques will find the benefits to be of real and lasting value.
The program is broken into several parts. An in-class session introduces students to the basic techniques, as well as background on engine operation, automatic and standard transmissions, alternate fuels and Climate Change. Then everyone heads for the cars, which are equipped with sophisticated fuel consumption meters. As there is no testing or certification involved, a relaxed atmosphere can be expected, and clients should not feel pressured to attain instant results. Coaching is delivered while they are at the wheel, and they have the opportunity to immediately put the techniques into practice. It’s quite satisfying to immediately see one’s efforts pay off through the data displayed on the meter.
Moving towards a post-carbon transportation infrastructure is the long-term answer to reducing our emissions, a time when electric vehicles and mass transit will rule. However in the interim, fuel-efficient driver training is an excellent bridging measure, taking individual responsibility by burning fossil fuels more carefully.
This style of resource-conscious driving is a marked departure from the rock n’ roll advertising and horsepower-hungry approach to automobile culture that has pervaded North American culture for half a century. It doesn’t take long though, to appreciate the shift in direction, and the fact that one is making a real difference in lowering their individual carbon footprint.
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