How is it much more fuel efficient to travel at say 50 mph for longer than 70 mph for a shorter period of time. Like if I was going a set distance, if I drive slower I’m using the car longer so why isn’t it the same fuel being used.
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At its most basic, the engine uses fuel at different rates. The harder you push the accelerator pedal the more quickly the engine burns fuel.
If you are running the engine for less time but burning fuel faster over that time, that could make for more or less fuel burned overall. What tends to happen is that at first the decreasing time “wins” and the car gets more efficient as you drive faster but as you keep going faster, the time savings increase slower and the fuel burn rate increases faster so eventually fuel burn rate wins and it starts to get less efficient.
Car companies engineer their vehicles to have the maximum efficiency at a speed at which they are likely to be driven a lot by most drivers.
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