Fuelly: Saving fuel through social networking

Take two well-known Oregon tech types—Portland’s Matt “matthowie” Haughey (of Metafilter fame) and Corvallis’ Paul Bausch (of Blogger and ORBlogs fame). Give them a problem, like skyrocketing fuel prices. And a couple of weeks.

Shake. Stir. Code. Sprinkle in some social networking and some cutting edge app development and what do you get?

Fuelly, a service designed to help you keep track of your fuel use and improve your fuel economy through social pressure err… networking.

As simple and straightforward apps go, Fuelly is a winner.

Don’t believe me? Well, okay. But maybe you’ll believe Gina Trapani of Lifehacker, who says:

Overall the point of Fuelly is to make saving fuel more fun by connecting your stats with your friends, and at this early point in its life, it does a pretty great job.

What’s that? You need more proof? Man oh man. Gas prices have definitely made you grumpy and cynical.

Okay, how about Get Rich Slowly, which offers:

I think this is a great idea. Fuelly taps the power of the masses to compile real fuel efficiency data so that users can find ways to save money. Brilliant.

With kudos like that, it didn’t take Fuelly long to catch on.

Me? I’m just happy to see these two Oregon folks getting some of the recognition they so richly deserve for solving yet another problem with a simple and thoughtful solution.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Fuelly helps me and my family reduce our fuel consumption.

Fuelly is a site that lets you track, share, and compare your gas mileage. Simply sign up, add a car, and begin tracking your mileage. By recording and analyzing your mileage, you can see how much money you can save with small driving changes. You can also see how your mileage compares with EPA estimates and the mileage of other drivers using Fuelly. Tips and a discussion forum also offer ways to save. The site is free to use, so sign up to start tracking your miles today.

(Hat tip Travis Cannon)

Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy View all posts by Rick Turoczy