One of the things I love about my Prius is being able to see my fuel efficiency in real time. Because I know how many mpg's I am getting at any given moment, I can adjust my driving to maximize efficiency. I find myself coasting a lot more than I used to, and avoiding the speed up, slow down loop that is city driving. I have often thought that all cars could increase their gas mileage just by adding in the same fuel economy monitor.
On Monday, Nissan Motors put out a release that it has developed an accelerator pedal that can push back on the driver's foot when it detects excess pressure and poor fuel efficiency. Cool! They are calling it the "ECO Pedal" and promising that it will be installed in some new Nissan models beginning next year. The pedal can be turned on or off by the driver.
Like the Prius, all new Nissan's will also be equipped with technology to show fuel consumption levels in real time on the instrument panel. And it will go one step further by flashing green for optimal fuel-efficient driving, amber when an adjustment is needed.
Initial research shows that the ECO pedal and fuel efficiency monitoring can lead to a fuel efficiency increase of 5 - 10 %. Not bad.
Other things that help increase fuel economy include keeping your engine tuned, tires properly inflated and driving the speed limit. And then there is always choosing not to drive at all, in which case your mpgs are infinite!
Further Reading:
I think in theory this is a good idea but I practice I am afraid I have to disagree. I understand the reason for it to exist but I believe that the driver should be in complete control all of the time.
I know that you can turn this Eco Pedal off, but driving is full of unpredictability. A conscious driver with a monitoring system would be a far better and safer option in my view.
If anything is to happen or not as the case may be it is still the sole responsibility of the driver.
I think a more conscious informed driver is what we should aspire to.
Written in August 2008