Oil prices are soaring, fuel-saving measures are needed

Oil prices are soaring, fuel-saving measures are needed. Correspondent Chen Guangli reports from Los Angeles Motorists have recently discovered that the price of oil has quietly risen in February, and in the blink of an eye it has approached the five-dollar-a-gallon mark...

Reporter Chen Guangli in Los Angeles

Motorists have recently discovered that the price of oil has quietly risen in February, and in the blink of an eye it has approached the five-dollar-a-gallon mark. The media has also spread rumors that this upward trend will continue. People are finding new ways to save gasoline and changing their living habits to cope with the pressure of oil prices. Mike Huang, who lives in Pasadena, recently parked his car in the garage and commuted on a two-wheeled motorcycle. He said that the motorcycle he owned at home was originally used for leisure purposes on weekends. Now that gas prices are at record highs, riding a bike saves money. This is also the most favorable reason to convince his family to keep the motorcycle. Office worker Zheng Kaiwen lives in Diamond Bar, and his company is in Anaheim. In response to pressure from gas prices, he has recently chosen to share commutes with his colleagues. He has also canceled weekend trips and opted to shop near his home to avoid unnecessary fuel consumption. Chen Qiaosheng, who often drives long distances, shared his experience and pointed out that cruise control is often used when driving on highways. He said that avoiding sudden acceleration and deceleration can also improve fuel consumption. Mr. Zhou, a lawyer, said that now families plan their trips more carefully, avoiding routes that require detours as much as possible, and calculating mileage through online maps first. He said this not only saves fuel, but also saves time. Huang Anren, who is engaged in import and export trade, said that he used to think that electric vehicles had poor battery life and could not travel very far. Now that he has discovered that his colleague’s electric vehicle is environmentally friendly and saves money, he is considering buying one to drive. In the future, he will not have to go to a gas station and can just charge it at home at night. Mr. Sun, who lives in Chino Hills, pointed out that avoiding a sudden start when the light turns green is a fuel-saving tip. In addition, he also opens the windows to let in natural breeze instead of the air conditioning system. He usually buys gasoline at the Costco store. His vehicle is also regularly maintained to keep it in good condition. Ms. Jiang, who lives in Cerritos, put her family's 3700c.c. truck into storage and switched to a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle to work because her company is located in Santa Monica, which is about an hour's drive away. She said that for the same distance, a gasoline-electric hybrid car can refuel once a week, but a large car can only refuel for three days. The difference in the cost of gas a month is huge. This money can be enough for the whole family to have a big meal, so there is no need to worry about comfort and hardship. Zhang Chuanxiang, who serves in the automobile industry, has recently become an automobile expert consulted by many people. He said that in order to improve the efficiency of gasoline engine cars, we can start by reducing the weight of the car body. First, remove unnecessary things, such as glove boxes, sundries and even spare tires. In addition, avoid letting the car idle continuously, replace tires with low friction coefficient and high rolling resistance, and lightly apply the accelerator and brake. When summer comes, he reminds the car's air conditioner not to adjust the temperature too low, and checks the car's fuel injection, ignition efficiency and tire pressure. However, he admitted that the money saved by this move is very limited. At most, the difference is about one to two miles per gallon. The difference cannot be felt from the data. He suggested that people who are interested in changing their cars in the near future may wish to consider diesel cars or gasoline-electric hybrid cars.