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August 22, 2008

MyMileMarker – How Much Gas Do You Guzzle?

ss-mymilemarker

As gas prices fluctuate and concerns over global warming rise, folks are talking more about fuel efficiency in cars. People are hunting for cars that get the best mileage, trying to curb excessive driving, and hypermiling (conserving gas by changing the way they drive). With all this talk about gas mileage and prices, though, it might be good to learn how much your car really is guzzling. When I first learned to drive, my father taught me how to do this. With a little spiral notebook and a ballpoint pen, he instructed me to take note of the odometer reading and the number of gallons purchased each time I stopped at the pump.

A little site called MyMileMarker eliminates the notebook and makes the process of tracking gas mileage easier than ever. The site is so popular, in fact, that there are already over 10,000 members signed up to track mileage information. Here’s how it works: each time you fill up at the pump, enter the odometer reading, the number of gallons pumped, and the price of gas into the online form. You can also tell MyMileMarker if you’ve recently had your oil changed or if you didn’t fill the tank completely. Over time, MyMileMarker tracks your car’s gas mileage. It also does a few things that my father’s notebook could never accomplish. Using the data you enter, MyMileMarker predicts how much you’ll spend on gas in the next year and how many miles you’ll likely put on your car. The program also creates graphs to show trends or changes in your gas guzzling habits.

Practical Uses:

  • Track your car’s gas mileage to make the decision of whether to keep your SUV or trade it in for a more fuel efficient model
  • Use the information stored in MyMileMarker to see if your car might need extra air in the tires, a new filter, or other fixes that might help improve gas mileage
  • Find out if your hypermiling efforts are really paying off
  • Use MyMileMarker like an exercise log, to help motivate you to make changes that will help you use less gas
  • Learn your actual costs for gas so you can accurately budget gas costs, rather than guessing
  • Track mileage to be sure you don’t exceed your lease’s limits

Insider Tips:

  • Send updates to MyMileMarker right from the pump via text message (MyMileMarker uses a Twitter connection to do this)
  • Use your Open ID information to register without creating a new password
  • Try using MyMileMarker’s mobile version on your web-enabled phone (including iPhones) for immediate tracking at the pump

What we liked:

  • The program is elegant in its simplicity and makes it easy to see your gas mileage at a glance
  • MyMileMarker lets you create pages for each vehicle you own. If you’re sending your mileage via SMS, MyMileMarker can even tell which vehicle you’re talking about
  • Users outside the US can opt to measure gas mileage in kilometers and liters, rather than miles and gallons

What we didn’t like:

  • It is possible to remove an accidental entry but only if it’s your most recent
  • There is no method for exporting mileage history

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: June 2007
  • Privately Owned by the web collective, Sidebar Creative
  • Headquarters: Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • Founded by Steve Smith with the help of Dan Rubin, Jonathan Snook and Bryan Veloso
  • Web site: http://www.mymilemarker.com

Costs:

  • Free

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