With the concern of global warming looming over us everyday, car companies are pulling together ideas to help, but are they better?
Dr. Keith Tao, a radiologist in Danville, Calif., owns three late-model Mercedes’s, each equipped with a fuel-saving technology called start-stop.
The system saves fuel and reduces emissions by cutting the engine when the car comes to a full stop and restarting when the foot is taken off the brake.
One of the first things Dr. Tao does after starting the engine: He turns off the feature.
The problem, Dr. Tao says, is that the stopping and restarting is rather intrusive. “You actually feel it restarting,” he said. “In terrible stop-and-go traffic this thing comes on and off constantly. In 20 minutes you can have 50 stop-and-start cycles. It can drive you totally insane.”
Mercedes defends its technology, known as ECO Start/Stop, calling it “one of the most seamless systems,” according to Christian Bokich, a company spokesman. “Customers with any concerns always have the option of defeating the system each time they enter and start the vehicle.”
While start-stop technology may make some people crazy, the technology is here to stay.