Installing the ICE Mileage Booster and logging mpg

What the booster is

The ICE/Diesel/Hybrid Mileage Booster is a small module with clip leads. It is a consumer product from Current RF, priced at $59.99. It is meant for gasoline engines, diesel engines and hybrids. Current RF says it increases fuel mileage by 10%.

The company's explanation involves the alternator. As the engine turns the alternator to charge the battery, the alternator loads the engine, a drag sometimes called back-torque. Current RF argues that the module reduces the charging current the system needs, which eases that load. The product page walks through the mechanism in the company's own words. This article does not vouch for it. It describes the install and a way to test it.

Install, step by step

Current RF compares the install to attaching jumper cables, and says anyone can do it. These are the steps in plain language. Read the product page and any instructions that ship with the module before you begin, and follow those over this summary.

• Park the vehicle, switch the engine off, and remove the key or fob from the ignition area.
• Open the hood and find the battery terminals. Confirm which is positive and which is negative from the markings on the battery.
• Clip the red lead to the positive terminal.
• Clip the black lead to the negative terminal.
• Check that both clips have a firm grip on bare metal and that the leads are clear of belts, fans and hot parts.
• Route the module so it cannot rattle against moving or hot parts, then close the hood.

To remove it, switch the engine off and take the clips off in reverse order. If you are unsure about any step, ask a mechanic. A battery stores a lot of energy, and a clip that slips across the terminals can spark.

What Current RF's Utah test reported

The ICE page shows a chart from a test on the Utah Salt Flats. The company ran six trials with and without the booster. In company testing, Current RF reports an average increase of 3 miles per gallon, an average driving range increase of 36 miles on a 12-gallon tank, and a 10% average range increase.

Read that as a company test result. The chart comes from the vendor, the site does not name an independent observer, and a flat salt surface is a very different road from a commuter route with hills and stop lights. It is a reason to run your own test, not a replacement for one.

Log your own mileage honestly

A dash display is the wrong tool. Its average mpg is an estimate that depends on how the car measures fuel. Use fill-to-fill logging instead. It costs nothing and it is hard to fool.

• Fill the tank to the first click at the same pump, with the vehicle level, and write down the odometer reading.
• Drive your normal route until the tank is at least half used.
• Fill again to the first click at the same pump. Write down the gallons added and the new odometer reading.
• Divide miles driven by gallons added. That is one data point.
• Repeat for at least three tanks without the booster, then at least three tanks with it.

Keep the conditions as steady as you can. Use the same route, same tire pressure, same fuel grade and, ideally, the same season. Do not change your driving style because you are watching the numbers. Write down anything unusual, such as a trip with a roof rack or a week of heavy rain.

Read the result fairly

Look at how much your tank-to-tank mpg varies without the booster. Cold weather, wind and traffic can swing one tank by several mpg. If your with-booster average sits inside that normal swing, you have not shown a change. If it sits clearly outside it, and holds across several tanks, you have something real.

Keep the log either way. Even a null result tells you something useful, and a positive one gives you a number that belongs to your vehicle rather than to a salt flat.

Where it fits and where it does not

Current RF sells separate boosters for electric vehicles and a Range Extender Accessory for e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards. Make sure you order the one that matches your vehicle. The ICE/Diesel/Hybrid module is the one that clips across a conventional battery.

The ICE application is explained on the ICE, Diesel and Hybrid page, and the module itself is in the Shop.