Drivers warned they could be wasting litres of fuel by not using common car button

Anyone who drives a bunch, whether for their commute or for fun, will know that fuel economy is a major concern - especially as the cost-of-living skyrockets all over the world right now.

So, any tip that could help you reign in the amount you have to spend on fuel is always welcome, and one simple idea is doing the rounds right now.

It's all about automated start/stop technology - a system that has been in many new cars for years now that allows them to fully turn off their engine when they're at a total stop for more than a handful of seconds, and then quickly reignite to move on when required.

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Say you're at a set of local traffic lights that you know are really slow. This would let you actually turn your car off, without needing to turn the key and use the clutch to get it started again, and estimates from the American Automobile Association (AAA) suggest it could net you up to 7% better fuel economy.

That's a major boost - a big enough number to make pretty much anyone sit up and pay attention, but it's of course worth mentioning that not every car actually has this tech.

Typically, you'll know whether yours does have it or not, but if you think you have a relatively recent motor and want to check, you should definitely dig out your owner's manual to have a look.

Alternatively, you could run a web search for your car's model and specification to see if it's likely - with another option being to simply scroll through the drive settings on the dashboard.

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If there's an option there that you can toggle on, do it and see how much of a difference you start to notice over time.

A 7% fuel economy boost sadly doesn't necessarily mean 7% cheaper fuel costs, as the equation is still a little more complicated than that. However, research from AAA suggests that it could save motorists up to $179 in annual fuel costs, based upon driving 15,000 miles a year in a vehicle that gets 20 mpg with fuel prices at $3.65 per gallon.

Nearly 200 bucks a year is no slouch, after all, so be sure to check out if you think your car can do it.

All of this doesn't apply to electric vehicles like the Cybertruck, meanwhile - the way their motors work means that they can do all of this without any settings to toggle on or off. They're either using power or they're not, so there's no need to have a feature for it.