Greens applaud AA advice on tyre pressure

New Zealanders could save money and hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions by inflating their car tyres correctly, said the Green Party today.

A survey by the AA has found that 48 percent of cars could have underinflated tyres, meaning nearly half the private vehicle fleet could be wasting fuel and compromising safety.

The survey results were published in the latest AA Directions (Winter 2010) magazine.
“The AA research shows a simple area where huge gains could be made, both for the economy and the environment,” said Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes.

“The AA estimates that on average a car uses an extra 58 litres of fuel a year if the tyres are under-inflated.
“We may be wasting 73 million litres of fuel or putting 170,000 tonnes of extra carbon dioxide into the air each year because of this.

“The Green Party supports the excellent research undertaken by the AA, and encourages all Kiwis using a car to check their type pressure at least monthly.

“By keeping your tyres at the correct pressure, you could more than offset the additional costs of the Emissions Trading Scheme on fuel,” said Mr Hughes.

For more fuel saving driving tips see www.aa.co.nz and www.energywise.govt.nz
For more information about AA fuel-saving tests see: http://www.aa.co.nz/aadirections/driver/pages/fuel-myths-exposed.aspx and http://www.aa.co.nz/aadirections/driver/Pages/Tyre-pressure.aspx

Calculation
According to AA the average car travels 14,000km a year and uses 10.32 litres of petrol per 100km = 1,444.8 litres a year.

4% extra due to under-inflation: 1,444.8 x 0.4 = 57.792 extra litres a year

48% of 2,631,014 cars (total light fleet) = 1,262,886 cars

1,262,886 cars x 57.792 = 72,994,810 litres wasted.

Based on an emission factor of 2.33kg/l for regular petrol, there is a potential GHG emission saving of just over 170,000 tonnes per annum.