Microsoft Creates EcoDrive to Educate Drivers, Reduce C02 Emissions
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY 
on 10. 3.07
As part of a bid to get their software into vehicles around the world, Microsoft is taking the initiative to help drivers be more eco-conscious through an onboard computerized system that provides personalized feedback to help educate drivers about their C02 emissions. They’re calling it the EcoDrive system, and developed in conjunction with Fiat and their Blue & Me system, it collects data on a vehicle’s efficiency which can be downloaded from a dashboard socket to the PC via a USB key.
As the automaker points out, the official fuel consumption and emission figures of cars today are obtained using professional drivers on a test bench under optimum conditions with fixed levels of temperature, pressure, and humidity. That’s also on a predefined driving cycle with air conditioning, radio, lights, and other devices switched off. That ensures the results are comparable between vehicles, but not too shockingly the real world is very different. Real emissions levels depend on a host of variables including whether the car is driven in a rural or urban setting, fluctuating external conditions, and general condition of the car.
And that’s not to mention the driver’s style certainly makes a difference as well.
This system enables the driver to determine the amount of C02 emitted for each trip, and will also analyze their personal driving style, ultimately making recommendations on how to make it more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient. Which sounds like green in more ways than one to me!
via:: Times Online
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Uh oh, here comes the Microsoft Office Assistant version 2.0.1.3 (the paper-clip with eyes we all loved so much).
Unless this works in conjunction with an onboard and instantaneous feedback display, I think it is 95% a waste of time. Imagine if you had to wait a month to download whether or not you were still hungry. You would die of starvation.
Being able to download all your data is simply not immediate enough. You will never be able to remember what was going on, "That spike in gas consumption must be when that guy cut me off and I floored it to the next red light so I could glare at him."
My girlfriend bought a smart car, and was getting terrible mileage. It turns out that smart cars have a very specific power band that is good on fuel, but if you rev just a little higher, you blow your mileage. She bought a ScanGuage, which plugs into the diagnostic port on most newer cars. It gives instant feedback on a huge variety of factors. So we all know that people who accelerate to red lights, only to brake hard, and then do it all over again are wasting gas, but you would be shocked at how much gas they are wasting if you had a gauge hooked up to their car.
Instant feedback is absolutely necessary to good design.
@Anonymous: Where did that come from?
This is 2007 - times have changed since then. It's not cool to make fun of Microsoft anymore.