Start Stop

It's easy to calculate that a car with the engine running but not moving is getting zero mpg. New technologies allow some cars to take control of the on/off switch from the driver when stopped. Whatever their name - stop-start, micro hybrid - automatic systems that shut down a vehicle's engine when the car is at rest help boost efficiency. Automakers - especially in Europe - are happi

Stop & Start technology, also known as mild hybrization, is a relatively simple technology that can easily reduce fuel consumption in vehicles. Regular readers already know how it works. Basically, in most instances, the engine shuts down instead of idling, for instance at traffic lights, and stores enough energy to start right back up when the driver presses the gas pedal or shifts into the first gear. This technology can now be found in most car types, and is especially popular in Europe.

I guess that at this point we've pretty much lost track of how many "green labels" automakers have slapped on their cleanest European vehicles (see Econetic, eco2, et al.). These labels are created to highlight the least-polluting member of a car line, usually based on

The Fiat 500 Start&Stop (click to enlarge)

What, a new Citroën DS? For those who don't know, more than 50 years ago Citroën sparked a revolution with the DS (pronounced like "deésse" in French, which means goddess) and its hydraulic suspension, transmission and braking. When Citroën announced a revival of the DS, some classic car lovers thought that the new DS might be a neo-retro model. We were wrong. Instead, Citroën has announcing a new line of premium vehicles, the DS series, that will compete against Germa

Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4_e

Porsche, like every other automaker under the sun, is under pressure to produce vehicles with improved fuel efficiency that emits less CO2. The current 911 puts out 225 g/km of CO2, but Porsche believes that it can hack another 10 g/km off that figure with the implementation of start-stop technology on its flat-six engines. Not so fast, say Porschephiles. According to the automaker, buyers aren't fond of such a feature on their arse-engined performance machines. Porsche didn't cite the reasons b

It seems like every carmaker has set themselves the goal of world domination. Toyota's internal master-plan memos leaked out, and then there's BMW nipping right along with lofty goals, too. Here comes Audi, deciding that they'd really like to sell 200,000 vehicles in the US market by 2010. While BMW is the current premium brand champ, Audi thinks it's got the moxie to claim that spot. Audi's perhaps got a case of inflated self-esteem if they think they're going to come out on top, especially con

The new Smart ForTwo diesel will not be the only internal combustion engined car in Europe to emit less than 100g/km of CO2 for long. The next generation of the Daihatsu Cuore will have an Eco model that is expected to be the lowest emitting gas-powered car on the market, at 99g/km. The new Cuore will use a start-stop system that allows it achieve 56mpg. That makes it greener than

Starting this month Robert Bosch GmbH will begin supplying a new start-stop system to BMW for installation on the updated 1-series. BMW will be selling a variety of efficiency enhancing technologies under the brand EfficientDynamics, that will be standard on the 1-series and include the start-stop system and regenerative braking. The start-stop system uses a modified starter motor that Bosch is calling a Smart Starter-Motor.