Quick Cash Auto Blog

Everyone knows that gas and car maintenance is expensive. Everyone also knows that, in the United States, commuting to work and driving the kids to school almost always requires a vehicle. The only exception is those that live in metropolitan areas and happen to be lucky enough to find a job close to home.

Carpooling may be the solution. Estimates indicate that as many as 16 million people in the United States carpool to work every day. Considering only about five million take public transportation to work, it’s clear to see that carpooling has become a popular means of transportation.

The benefits of carpooling are many. Compared to taking public transportation, participating in a carpool can save time. This is especially true when the ability to use a carpool lane is taken into consideration. The fuel savings means less of a strain on a worker’s wallet, and removing the necessity of personally driving to work every day can lead to a less stressful commute.

If you’re thinking about starting a carpool in your workplace, consider these tips:

• Advertise

Ask your boss if you can put flyers up at work to announce that you’d like to start a carpool, and include tear off sheets with contact information.

• Plan

Once you have enough people interested in the carpool, communicate with the members of the carpool to plan a schedule. Make sure that everyone is doing an equal amount of driving, and stress the importance of punctuality. Schedule the pickup route in a logical way, and let everyone in the carpool know what time they’ll be picked up so that they can be ready on time.

• Fund

Decide how you will split costs with others in the carpool. If everyone is doing an equal amount of driving, you may not need to be concerned about discussing finances with other carpool members.

• Have a Backup Plan

What happens if the person that is supposed to be driving is out sick? What if a member is taking vacation? Be sure that you address alternate plans in case of an absence or emergency. Swap contact information with all of the other carpool members so that you can contact someone in case of an emergency.

Carpooling can significantly reduce your commute costs and be less stressful than driving yourself to work every day. Organize a carpool at your workplace and start enjoying the benefits of being a member of a carpool.

No one likes to get out their wallet at the gas pump. Although fuel efficiency in new vehicles continues to improve, life in the United States still tends to require a lot of time behind the wheel, requiring multiple fill-ups a month even for the most fuel efficient vehicles. What can you do to save money on gas?

• Follow the Speed Limit

Everybody speeds on the highway, right? Well, everyone may be doing it, but you’d be smarter to slow down. Not only will you help yourself avoid a potential ticket, but you’ll be spending less on gas. Experts suggest that vehicles are most fuel efficient when driven at approximately 55 miles per hour. This doesn’t help you if you do a lot of street driving, but those with highway commutes can boost their fuel efficiency up to 15 percent by simply slowing down.

• Regular Maintenance

To keep your car’s fuel economy at its maximum, be sure that you regularly schedule maintenance. A simple thing like underinflated tires or a dirty air filter can quickly reduce the fuel efficiency of your vehicle, so be sure to get these checked at regular intervals. Many lube shops will include checks of these kinds of issues when you take your car in for an oil change.

• Drive Less

You may think that you can’t drive less because of the demands of work, your children’s activities, and having to run errands. However, think about whether you’d be able to use public transportation or form a carpool for just some of your regular activities. Could your kids take the bus to school? Is there a group of people at your workplace that is commuting from the same area, making a carpool possible? You may be surprised how easy it can be to cut out some of your day-to-day driving.

• Lighten Up

Fuel efficiency is affected by the amount of weight you’re carrying in your car. Think about what you have in your trunk right now. Are there heavy objects that would be better stored at home? Take them out to instantly improve your fuel economy. The same goes with having unnecessary people in the car; if an extra person doesn’t need to tag along while you’re running errands, leave them at home.

Paying at the pump can be a painful experience for all of us. Using the simple tips above, you can help ease the financial burden.

Despite efforts by the federal government to push car manufacturers to increase fuel efficiency in new vehicles, and an increasing consumer demand for less frequent trips to the gas pump, fuel efficiency in new vehicles seems to have flatlined according to recent reports.

September reports indicate that the average fuel efficiency in new cars sold throughout the month came in around 22 miles per gallon, the same as the average fuel efficiency for new cars sold in the month of August. This is only a slight improvement as compared to fuel efficiency a year ago, which averaged at 21.4 miles per gallon.

American-made vehicles tend to have the worst fuel efficiency, as many gas guzzling trucks and SUVs sold in the United States are American-made. Foreign manufacturers tend to focus on keeping vehicles lighter and more fuel efficient to meet recent consumer demand. Research shows that these internationally manufactured vehicles make up a higher percentage of the cars sold in the United States than domestically manufactured vehicles, weighting the average gas mileage above American-made averages.

The car manufacturer with the best ratings in fuel efficiency was Hyundai, with an average of 26.7 miles per gallon. The least fuel efficient car manufacturer was Chrysler, with an average of 19.2 miles per gallon.

The information compiled in the fuel efficiency report conducted by TrueCar.com, a vehicle information website, differed from the averages calculated by a University of Michigan research professor, Michael Sivak. However, the numbers were not vastly different; Sivak calculated an average of 22.1 miles per gallon for vehicles sold in September, up from 21.1 miles per gallon two years ago. The data used by Sivak at the University of Michigan and data used by TrueCar.com differed slightly, but Sivak pointed out that, despite the difference in data, the results were very similar.

The Obama administration hopes to intervene and require car manufacturers to steadily increase fuel efficiency over the next 14 years. A congressional hearing will determine whether the federal government will be able to impose a steady increase in fuel efficiency, peaking at an average of 54.5 miles per gallon for all vehicles manufactured in the year 2025.

The first advent of the electric car brought charging stations that have long since been decommissioned and abandoned, deemed useless. As electric cars start to make a comeback, many drivers that are considering the gasless vehicles are concerned about becoming stranded as charging stations are few and far between. Will those old stations be refurbished and opened again, and will more like them crop up as alternative fuels become more and more popular?

Many states are pushing to add dozens of charging stations to quell any fears that drivers may have over driving their electric vehicles long distances. Indiana recently announced plans to add over 70 charging stations, and a major charging station company, Car Charging Group Inc., announced that they have partnered with parking garages across the country to offer electric charging stations in residential and commercial parking structures.

The charging stations offered by Car Charging Group Inc. will be provided free of charge to parking garage owners, while the charging company will retain ownership rights to the stations. This will allow parking garages in apartment, office, and commercial buildings to offer residents, employees, and shoppers an electric charge for their vehicle without the property owners having to put money up. The cost of operation will be charged to those that are using the stations.

Stations will charge a nominal fee for drivers to charge up their electric vehicles at these stations, making the alternative fuel source even more appealing in comparison to the charges incurred at the gas pump. In Indiana, Indianapolis Power & Light charges a small $2.50 fee for the service, and notes that businesses in the area of these public charging stations may even offer a validation service to cover the fee in order to drum up business.

Although the charges will help get drivers to their next destination, it is unlikely that they will have enough time to fully charge their vehicles as a full charge can take up to twenty hours. Shoppers may just get enough of a boost to get them back home, while residents in apartment buildings may be able to fully charge their vehicles.

The move for more charging stations across the country highlights the public’s desire for a cheaper, more environmentally friendly fuel source.