In some parts of Europe and Japan, officials are recommending people shut thier engines off while waiting for a traffic light. I personally have been doing this for decades. This is the great advantage of the Prius. I'm curious as to why this simple feature of shutting off the engine when power is not required is not incorporated on all vehicles. The fuel savings would be incredible! Where are the original and independent thinkers in Detroit and Washington D.C. ????????? :angry:
(Disclaimer: I took a high school automotive class, so I'm no automotive technician, but I kind of remember how these things work. Kind of. :blink: ) The fuel savings would be incredible, but so would the wear and tear on the starter motors in those cars as well as the engines. If I recall correctly, engine wear is greatest when firing at the low RPMs a starter motor can manage. (This is why the Prius stop/start mechanism isn't a problem -- the electric motor can spin the engine at a high enough speed to avoid the wear issue.) I'd think you'd also have an issue with lead-acid battery charge. It takes a pretty stiff jolt to get the starter motor turning the engine quickly enough. I don't think the battery gets charged that quickly, so I would think that if you had to stop for lights too much, you'd run out of battery charge and not be able to start your car.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zqfmbg @ Sep 2 2007, 02:57 PM) [snapback]505974[/snapback]</div> What I was actually saying is: ALL cars should incorporate the exact same IC starting system that the Prius has...that is A separate flywheel. It may use the HV Bat for this. You will notice that when starting or stopping the Prius any related sounds are insignificant. If necessary the inclusion of a battery system just for engine starting might be cost effective....just for the overall fuel savings. Incidentally, I have never had to replace a starting motor or a battery by using this manual shutoff system. These countries are not recommending this procedure as a joke, they are quite serious. The USA is decades behind the rest of the world in fuel savings, we are only just beginning to wake up!!!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(andyprius @ Sep 2 2007, 04:15 PM) [snapback]505984[/snapback]</div> Most average Americans are not ready to shut off thier A/C and heat at lights. I did this for a few months in my 2004 Nissan Sentra along with shutting off the engine going down hills on the interstate and in the city. My FE went from 23.5 MPG to about 27-28MPG. This is not just at lights but using every hypermiling trick I know about. I even posted milage on gasaroo.com for a while in this car. I am not sneering here and I love my 2005 Prius.....but Americans are mostly lazy and could care less about saving 2-4 MPG efficiency as opposed to sitting thier a$$es in the seat comfortably using the A/C. We here at PC and some other energy saving people would like for this to happen but..........it is a long way out for something like this. I am very happy to be getting 47MPG in the prius vs. 24-27 MPG in the Sentra.
Unfortunately, Andy, the automakers aren't going to include those changes just to save oil. The customers would have to pay for the design changes. There's an awful lot that would have to be added: HV battery, new starter, charging system, etc. Oh, and it would probably be quite a feat to crank a large engine the way the Prius cranks. Not a chance of that happening. No way you'd want an auto-start system on a manual transmission, of course. And I doubt an automatic trans would do well with a sudden burst of torque from a starting engine. You'd have an easier job convincing the automakers to license the HSD.
Looks like BMW is doing it, ""Auto Start/Stop," the system automatically switches off the engine when the car comes to a standstill. As soon as the driver puts in the clutch or depresses the gas pedal, the engine restarts automatically. BMW's "Intelligent Software" links together the various sensors required with the starter motor and the alternator control to make the process work. Auto Start/Stop, along with BMW's High Precision Injection (lean-burn direct injection) and Brake Energy Regeneration technologies, will appear across a broad model range, with the Start/Stop technology to be introduced in four- and six-cylinder 1-, 3- and 5-Series models. http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/23/bmw-to-...system-in-2007/
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seasalsa @ Sep 2 2007, 09:51 PM) [snapback]506123[/snapback]</div> Auto Start/Stop is going in the Mini as well. I read somewhere a prediction that a majority of new cars will have this feature in five years. Tim Chicago
I originally started this thread Sept 2nd, 07. Now that oil has hit $134 and gasoline is over $4.00 gal, the American and other car companies will incorporate these innovations and many more. Unfortuneately only a few will try to produce a really innovative product. ( ie: Prius / Aptera ) The American car companies always follow and never lead. They did this with suspension systems, disk brakes and front wheel drive. The volt will be a copy of the Prius. Imagine IMMENSE amounts of profits over the years and GM, Ford and Chrysler are AFRAID to gamble.
Perhaps they don't have any money left for research and development after they: 1) pay for all of the advertising of the undesirable cars they have trouble selling and 2) pay their president and upper management exorbitant amounts of money for the fantastic work they do creating desirable and innovative cars.
Detroit has been substituting oil for knowledge for so long they are having trouble applying the knowledge, even with successful examples like Prius. Remember when the Prius product reviews stated that the Prius "dies at every stop light." The Detroit mindset just could not conceive of a car that does not idle.
