GM engineers speak up for installing MPG displays in every vehicle

Photo by Marcin Wichary. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Live mileage updates are probably best known from the Prius dashboard, but the world's best-selling hybrid is not the only vehicle with a real-time MPG display. Whether its a detailed display like on the Prius, an "eco light" like on the Malibu hybrid, or the very cool Ford Escape PHEV prototype screen, telling the driver how efficient their driving is at any given moment is the new black.

Ecomodder recently spoke with some GM engineers about HCCI technology when the discussion turned to MPG displays. The engineers realize that these displays can make driving into a bit of a game and that the knowledge pretty much automatically makes people greener drivers. Even with that assumption, the engineers acknowledge that whether or not these displays are installed in every GM vehicle is "a marketing decision." It seems like a no-brainer to me (but I'm not an engineer or in marketing) because if the automakers are going to spend untold millions on designing more fuel efficient cars, why not tack on the few extra dollars to "design" more fuel efficient drivers?

[Source: Ecomodder, h/t to Darin]

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