Driving Green

Greener Vehicles

Meet some people who are going green "on the road" - and in some surprising ways. Plus, how you can get great gas mileage without an alternative fuel car.

WGN-TV

October 17, 2007

Limousine company owner Frank D'Angelo was a little confused when he happened to see an associate fitting a car for a propane gas tank.

"I thought it was because they like to bar-b-cue."

Most of us associate propane with summer grills. But it's increasingly becoming an alternative fuel for cars. And with gas prices skyrocketing, a guy who makes his living driving people around in those giant Hummer limos knew he had to consider this alternative.

"They're gas guzzlers, everybody knows it."

So he found *Fuel for Earth*, a Villa Park company that coverts regular gas vehicles into ones that use liquefied petroleum gas, or propane. They converted a Hummer limo and a Lincoln town car for D'Angelo company exotic coach Limosuites.

"You receive the same MPG as you would on regular unleaded fuel. So you're not losing in miles per gallon. You are increasing your benefit because it's almost cutting your gas costs in half."

The new tank goes in the trunk of the car ... But the propane tank isn't a replacement system. It's a piggyback system.

"Right now, the button here, you're running on gas. And with a simple push of the button, it blinks… it's now transitioning over to propane."

Fuel for Earth can covert your car or commercial vehicle for about $5,000 and the conversion can reduce harmful emissions by up to 85%.

That makes the giant Hummer limo a little less obnoxious ... And a night on the town, guilt-free.

No guilt for Wayne Gerdas either. He says you don't even need an alternative fuel car to get incredible gas mileage -- and he has the numbers to prove it.

"In the summer I'll get 55 miles per gallon and in the winter I'll get about 45 miles per gallon."

That's out of his Honda Accord ... A car that the EPA says should get about 28 miles a gallon. On his Toyota Prius Hybrid, he averaged 95 miles per gallon on a recent his 13-mile trip!

"Speed does kill fuel economy."

Wayne uses specialized driving techniques that can double the normal gas mileage for any car, including non-hybrids. But he also has some very basic fuel economy tips...

Always keep your tires at max pressure...

Use a *scan gauge* ... It's device that costs about $170 and goes on your dashboard. Instantaneous feedback helps you adjust your driving to get the best mileage.

And use a synthetic oil ... It lowers friction and you get up to 5% better fuel economy.

Wayne coined the title *hyper miler* for himself and others like him ... A hyper miler is somebody who can beat the EPA combined, year-round in all the different driving situations. A good hyper miler tries not to ever get into traffic situations by going too fast, because you're just wasting fuel if you do that.

"Speed limits are 55, and that right lane, I own it. It's 45 to 55. If I'm doing 48 to 55 in there, that's my lane. I'm perfectly legal. Anybody else - they'll have to go around."

Ok, Wayne sounds obsessive in his driveway. Now check him out on the *road* ... He doesn't even turn his car on to leave his drive way. Welcome to Wayne's world.

"The engine is not started, were just coasting."

As he reaches the first corner of his block, he still hasn't turned on the engine.

Wayne finally turns the car on as he reaches the stop sign, but between you and me, he doesn't *really* stop at the stop sign if no cars are around ... He uses the energy to make his turn.

"I don't recommend this for the average drive until they've practiced this out on country roads."

Up a little farther, Wayne coasts again after he turns the car *off* ... No need to burn fuel as you get up to a red light and waste more gas by idling at the light.

"See that light? We didn't actually have to stop, when you see everyone around us even the guy behind us stopped, there was no reason for that."

Up ahead, another red light ... Again, Wayne turns his car off

"And again, I'm just gonna coast in. I'll coast right through this light and into the next one, which is red. I call them rabbits because they're raced up to the lights; they're all on their brakes. They're all idling' going nowhere. While I'm not burning any fuel at all and I'm still moving. Now they haven't moved yet, but I'm still moving at 20 and now I'm going to pulse through the lights and catch it at green and now I'm already looking and the second and third lights ahead. Drop the engine off an we're gonna coast right in.'

Now, parking ... Here's Wayne going into a shopping center ... Remember, his car is *off* ... He's still coasting.

"Our engine's been off for the last 30 or 45 seconds and we're gonna maintain it off. Nobody is behind, I'm not impeding anyone. Now instead of parking in the front at the grocery store, I'm gonna park all the way in the back."

Why? Because he doesn't burn any fuel looking for a parking space. He even coasts into his spot, facing outwards. So that he doesn't have to burn fuel by turning around, after he's done shopping.

"It's not for the average driver, these are very advanced techniques. For me, it's not advanced it's just second nature. But somebody could get hurt doing this."

Still Wayne insists all of us can vastly improve our mileage with just *some* of these basic techniques.

"It's best for the country - for what we can do today, is increase our fuel economy which will help, but the future is a lot brighter than it is today and i really look forward to it."

You can check out Wayne's world and sign up for his clinic on his website:

CleanMPG.com

And exotic coach hopes to covert their whole fleet of cars by the end of next year. Winthrop Harbor police uses propane in its fleet of cars. And the largest taxi company is Las Vegas has its whole fleet running on propane.