Zoomi Life

Driving smarter can save fuel.  Huge amounts of fuel, even for non-hybrids and gas guzzling SUVs.  Most of the newer vehicles, especially hybrids, are now featuring “eco-driving” displays or prompts integrated into the dashboard of the car. Ford, Honda, Toyota, and many others have them.  The Chevy Volt is expected to feature one and even electrics like the Ford Transit will have it.

Most studies have shown that a driver can account for around 20% of a car’s total fuel consumption through driving habits, route selection, idling, etc. That’s no small sum and definitely something that we should all be aware of.  Auto companies are finding new ways to promote the idea of eco-driving through different feedback technologies.

Ford’s SmartGauge

The SmartGauge is an original idea from the Ford Motor Company and has been developed by Sonya Nematollahi and her team in Michigan.  Officially called the “SmartGauge with EcoGuide” by Ford, the technology is featured in the instrument cluster of the 2010 Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids.

This is a visual indicator on either side of the speedometer. These display various digitally-rendered menus in one of four modes: Inform, Enlighten, Engage, and Empower.  Each gives more detailed information than the last.

In Inform mode, all that’s shown is a battery-level indicator.  In Empower, a “threshold” box is shown, sort of like the “hit it” gauge in a video game, where optimal savings are when acceleration and RPMs are kept within the box.  Another is a gauge of the total electrical load on the car (including all accessories).

These keep getting more complex with visuals such as green leaves (the more the better), softly glowing indicators of total eco-driving and habits along with a “score” showing a total efficiency score. It’s kind of like video gaming in a car, though designed to keep your eyes mostly on the road.  The gauges are designed to give feedback without requiring you watch them (most information is easily noted through peripheral, rather than direct vision).

Honda’s Eco Assist

Honda, meanwhile, has two different approaches, both featured in the new Insight hybrid.  The first is the “Econ” button, which is an easy, one-button eco-driving assister. It basically cuts down air conditioning and throttle response to raise efficiency.  So the A/C won’t be as “strong” and the pedal won’t be as responsible when Econ is on.

The other is a display similar to Ford’s SmartGauge, but not nearly as complex.  It’s a simple green glow added to the speedometer. The glow gets brighter when smooth acceleration and braking are done, both of which are the most critical part of eco-driving in a hybrid.  The first lowers fuel consumption while the second maximizes regenerative braking.

The less efficient your driving habits, the more blue is added to the feedback glow. This simple color-changing scheme helps boost driver awareness of their driving habits while at the same time promoting “eyes on the road.”

Finally, the Eco Guide, an LCD screen under the tachometer in the Insight, gives slightly more informative information regarding the driver’s habits. A horizontal bar indicates braking and accelerating habits (growing to the left for too much acceleration, growing to the right for too hard braking).  Keeping the bar as small towards the center as possible gives best eco-driving results.

When you stop the car and turn off the car, the displays immediately show a total gauge of your eco-driving for that trip using several indicators, showing you a better view of your longer-term driving habits.

Toyota’s Hybrid System Indicator

The 2010 Prius features many of the same indicators of the Insight, but with different colors and a much more elaborate output display. The speedometer indicator glows blue, brighter means better driving.  The Prius also has an ECO mode button which works much like the Honda’s Econ button.

The big difference in the Prius’ setup is both it’s more elaborate display and it’s EV button.  The EV button allows for driving in electric-only mode for short distances at low speeds. This was standard in European and Asian models (for the most part) before 2010, but only comes to America in the new Prius.

The displays are across the center of the dashboard and gives a much more detailed and elaborate output of eco-driving than even the Ford SmartGuide. While this can be distracting, it’s positioned in such a way that a passenger can easily read it for the driver and most of it can be read by the driver without having to stare at the display to do so.

Information similar to that in the Insight is shown, along with total recapture through regenerative braking, fuel economy data, and so forth.  In fact, indications of fuel economy by the minute, five minutes, and most recent five trips can be compared here. Lots of data for the eco-driver here.

Other Companies

Not to be left behind in the hype, GM is pushing their own plans for the Volt, but haven’t been forthcoming with any kind of details.

Nissan, meanwhile, has a forced-feedback push pedal system for their vehicles which gives tactile feedback through the accelerator to tell the driver how he or she is doing.  Subaru has a similar plan in the works, but theirs will likely be through the steering wheel instead.

Fiat and Microsoft have teamed up to make eco:Drive, a computer software application that works with Fiat’s Blue&Me system to offer eco-friendly tips. The driver can insert any USB flash or thumb drive into a port in the car and then plug it into their computer after driving to analyze the information.  The software then walks them through tips on how they could improve their eco-driving.

Nissan tried something similar to that as a Web-based plan last summer and may include that in future models–it’s already online in Japan, to subscribers of their Carwings nav system.  Nissan’s also includes map data so that GPS information is included in total eco-driving analysis.

Audi is working on the Smart Engines project to compare real-time traffic and topography information to automatically set throttle control in the vehicle. It can also set gear shifting in the automatic transmission (if the topography is flat, it will shift more often, in hills it allows higher RPMs) and even looks at the outside temperature to determine the best setting for the A/C’s load.

Audi sees this eventually coupling with highway-integrated Smart Nodes, part of their research into automated traffic. The whole gamut of information is fed into Audi’s AudiStreets system to get regional, city, and location-specific data to assist the Nodes.  This is obviously a long-term project that won’t be seen in everyday cars for some time.

Volvo has a similar project, called the CO2 Project, but it is at least five years from a public prototype.

In all, there are a lot of things coming down the pike (and currently on the streets) for eco-driving and improvement.  Education of the driving public is definitely the biggest step that needs to be taken to increase fuel economy right now. Technology is great, but if you fail to take advantage of it, it’s just another gadget.  After all, did James Bond ever get a laser watch he didn’t use at least once?

Source: Green Car Advisor