To give you an idea how much effect acceleration and gearing have on fuel economy, I've been playing with the economy guage on my gas burning truck. Holding 55 MPH on a back road near home, it says I'm getting up to 43 MPG. Accelerating lightly from a stopsign, it drops to around 5 and jumps to 10 when it shifts.

Let's hope there's intelligent life somewhere in space 'cause it's buggar all down here. -- Monte Python