Kia expects 15% city efficiency boost from start-stop system

Kia's compact cee'd hatchback will be getting a new automatic start-stop system starting this spring in Europe. The system which switches off the engine when the car comes to a stop and restarts it when the clutch pedal is pressed down should give about a fuel efficiency boost of about six percent overall. However, in urban stop and go driving the difference can be up to 15 percent. Such systems will be increasingly common in the next few years (see: Ford) as a low cost way of reducing idle emissions without having to go to a full hybrid system. The starter/generator is supplied by Bosch and the cee'd is built in Slovakia.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]