Stop-start technology is spreading

Stop-start technology is spreading

The stop start system on a motor vehicle is designed to turn the engine off when the vehicle was stopped, and for it to turn back on when the driver wants to go, these systems are usually based on the driver removing their foot from the brake pedal as the signal to restart the engine. However Mercedes now admits that nearly 95% of the people who own a Mercedes with this feature disable it upon entering the car. One customer has reportedly said that he always disables it now because in one 20 min. trip soon after he got the vehicle it did at least 50 stop start cycles on that one journey, in his opinion having this feature on all the time would drive the car owner insane. He said this because the driver can actually feel the car restarting every single time.

Mercedes defended its technology saying it was a very seamless system and that has already stated customers have the option of disabling the system every time they enter the vehicle. A

Mercedes

company spokesman also said that while stop start technology may make people crazy, that technology is here to stay. The reason the technology is here to stay has absolutely nothing to do with what the car manufacturers customers want, it is all about car manufacturers being under intense pressure to meet the 2025 fuel economy standards and they are going to use every creative method they can to wring every last drop of fuel efficiency from conventional petrol and diesel engines.

Another most likely option that they will take is to increase transmissions from six speeds to at least nine speeds and possibly even 10 speeds. They are also most likely to switch from mechanical power steering to electrical power steering systems, nearly every manufacturer is currently engaged in trying to decrease tire rolling resistance, and also into high-pressure direct fuel injection into the cylinders. Some of the figures released by stop start technology car manufacturers are saying that cars with the technology enabled can save between 3% and 5% on their annual fuel usage. Ford also said that their cars that living large metropolitan areas with many traffic light stops of extended periods some vehicles are saving up to 10% on their fuel usage. Most owners of these vehicles who actually used the technology disagree stating they doubted they got 1 mile per gallon extra fuel usage from the vehicle.

Some car manufacturers that are going go along with this technology sooner rather than later are Buick who expect all their vehicles to be using stop start technology by 2018 and

Ford

expects at least 75% of its vehicles to be using the technology by the end of 2016. One company that is bucking the trend is

Mazda

, they say their primary research suggests almost every single person who owns a vehicle equipped with stop start technology disables it, so on that basis, the company is looking elsewhere to make savings on fuel usage.