So over the past 3 months, I've started tracking splits of my mileage, gas fill ups, etc based on whether I have the "eco" button ON or OFF. Over a full timetable of 7,685 miles driven over 20 fill ups since 9/17/18, I've experienced the following performance per fill up:
So the eco mode actually does have an effect! My fuel efficiency is about 0.51 miles per gallon better when I have eco mode turned on.
The car also gives an "estimated" range every time I fill it up, and these "estimates" certainly don't reflect what my tracking has shown me, skewing high in both cases and also a much smaller predicated delta between ON/OFF (0.18 miles per gallon):
So how much am I actually saving? Is it worth feeling like I need to start pedaling like Fred Flintstone in order to squeeze out another 0.51 miles per gallon? The current average gas price in Miami is around $2.35 per gallon, but over the course of my tracking I've been spending closer to $2.64 per gallon. So my savings would be:
0.51 miles per gallon * $2.64 per gallon * 1.56 savings per week = $2.10 per week
Is it worth ~$2 a week, or ~$104 a year, for a worse driving experience? Considering that I'm driving almost 100 miles round trip each day, 5 days a week, I think I'll leave eco mode OFF going forward.
Super dumb but most of the fuel efficiency features on cars like eco.mode and auto start/stop or nitrogen filled tires are all marginal improvements at best.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see this analysis projected to all Kia Soul's on the road. While the effect isn't much for a single person, it might be pretty substantial on the macro level.
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