Survey Shows 75% of UK Drivers Want Cars with Stop-Start Systems
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 04.29.08
Stop-start technology makes a lot of sense, and we're quite disappointed that it is taking so long to become widespread. It conserves fuel and reduces emissions in city driving by shutting down the engine when the car is stopped (red light, dense traffic, etc), and restarting it instantaneously when the drive takes his or her foot off the brake pedal. You get part of the benefits of a hybrid car at a much lower price tag.
So it is not surprising that a new survey shows that 3/4 of UK drivers would buy a car with a stop-start system. Problem is, there are only three carmakers that offer stop-start systems on non-hybrid models, Citroën (we wrote about the C2 Stop/Start here), BMW and Mini.
The good news is that most automakers are planning to introduce stop-start technology in either their whole lineups or select "green" models over the next few years. Better late than never...
Stop-start reduces fuel consumption by an average of about 10% in city driving, but that depends on your driving habits and where you live. The longer you usually spend stopped at red lights and idling in dense traffic, the the bigger the difference in fuel costs and emissions would be. And with fuel prices expected to keep rising, it would definitely make financial sense over the life of the vehicle.
::Motorists turned on by untapped stop-start engine technology savings, via ::Survey: 75% of UK Drivers Would Buy a Car with Stop-Start System
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This is the dumbest idea ever!
You've got a start stop system on the end of your fingers.
I always turn off the engine while waiting at lights.
The British are just too fat and lazy to even turn off the engine by themselves!
Would also make waiting in line in drive-thu's friendlier as well.
But to me the real question is: will it ALWAYS start after stopping?
When I lived in Germany a few years ago, a friend of mine had bought a G3 that we'd travel everywhere in. The thing works like a champ, and it had the stop/start. Stereo would stay on, but when you go to move your foot from the brake to the gas, the engine would start back up, and you could press on with your travels as if nothing had happened. I wish they'd offer it in the US as well.
Using the key to start and stop your vehicle on your own is a good way to end up with a burnt out starter solenoid prematurely.
Ask any delivery driver if you don't believe me.
Getting purpose made start/stop technology seems like a cheap and easy fix for nearly every vehicle to save fuel.
"You've got a start stop system on the end of your fingers.
I always turn off the engine while waiting at lights."
1) The starter in a car isn't the same as one in a car with stop-start, and isn't designed to be stopped and started all the time.
2) If you want to make sure that only a very small minority of people do this, leave the automatic version out of cars and tell them to do it manually. Maybe 1% of people will do it...
"But to me the real question is: will it ALWAYS start after stopping?"
Hybrids have been using it for over 10 years, and that's not a problem with them.
In fact, each cylinder constantly stops and starts :)
While the stop-start method is great, the author is right, it heavily depends on the driver. But switching to any form of hybrid takes some 'retraining'. But, from everything I've ever read about the stop-start system, I definitely want to try one out, but what are my chances... I live in the US.... where on average it still cost more to be green(-ish).
The question any person would ask is whether the higher inital cost of a hybrid, all electric, or stop-start system unltimately saves them money. It would relatively easy to build a box with either a GPS and/or inerita measurement system that person could carry with them in their conventional car for a week or two to record their driving history and bracket the cost savings.
What is the long term inpact to the drive train. Each time the engine stops the oil films breakdown. I would expect engine life would drop?