Filling up is something every RVer has to think about, so how can you get some more bang for your buck?
These days, it’s nearly impossible to find a motel room for less than $99 a night. If you’re on holiday, that’s $700 a week you’ll be spending just to sleep in a bed at night. True enough, that may not have anything to do directly with L/100km, but the fact that you’re travelling with an onboard bedroom behind you contributes to the built-in savings of motorhome travel.
In simplest terms, fuel efficiency is the total distance a vehicle is able to travel relative to the amount of fuel it consumes and it’s a major contributing factor to the overall budget and travel economy of any trip you might be planning.
While caravans offer sleeping configurations and overnight accommodations, they also come with their own set of fuel-optimising handicaps. Aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance are conditions that can adversely affect fuel and energy efficiency.
As eager as you may be to reach your final destination, it’s good to take a moment to remember that part of the joy is in the journey. By driving smoothly and maintaining a speed of 90km/h, your vehicle will naturally use less fuel.
Without the burden of a separate, heavy rig to tow, you’ll be able to travel further on the same amount of fuel, and since a motorhome is self-contained, there are no expensive and inconvenient extras like towing mirrors or hitches you need to worry about attaching to a tow vehicle. And this all adds up to more than just a savings on costly accessories.
With fewer vehicle attachments there are fewer things to go wrong so you’ll experience improved handling on top of spending less at the pump. While a lot of fuel-saving features are built right into the motorhome itself, the beauty of its design is that it allows you added opportunity to keep below budget if you’re willing to follow a few simple rules of the road.
Travelling under favourable weather conditions is another way to wring a couple of more Ks out of each litre, so if stormy weather is on the horizon and your travel plans are flexible, you can save a bunch by waiting a little. When every dollar counts, as it always should, the fuel efficiency of a motorhome, and the money-saving bonuses that complement the streamlined design of these beautiful vehicles from Avida just can’t be beat.
