Start-Stop Technology Shows Potential

Carmakers are looking into every possibility to increase fuel efficiency in light of the upcoming 2015 CAFE increases. One fuel-saving technique that looks promising is start-stop technology, commonly found in today’s hybrid cars and SUVs.

How many gallons of gas and pounds of greenhouse gas emissions are wasted and emitted each year when vehicles are sitting in traffic or at stop lights and signs? The Department of Transportation estimates that 17 billion gallons of fuel are spent each year while cars sit motionless.

A German transmission company, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, has introduced a technique called hydraulic impulse oil storage that stops fuel consumption when a non-hybrid car comes to a halt and restarts it within 350 milliseconds of the brake being disengaged. This reduces fuel consumption on starts by 5%.

The advantage of start-stop technology is that it’s relatively cheap to manufacture, and if implemented widely it could cut the use of millions of barrels of oil and reduce greenhouse emissions. Some people in the automotive industry think that one in five cars will use start-stop technology by 2015.

Start-Stop Technology Gets Another Boost—and Some Efficiency as Well (Autopia)