Check out this article, probably no surprise to most of you, but congestion is getting worse:
Overall in 2003, there were 3.7 billion hours of travel delay and 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel for a total cost of more than $63 billion.
... that's a lot of money!
Too bad there are not more hybrids on the road. With the idle-off feature many of these drivers could be sitting listening to their radios or books-on-tape with their engines off, wasting a lot less fuel and producing fewer smog and global warming pollutants. Plus, the systems work so well that before your foot even moves from the brake pedal to the gas, the engine is back on and ready to go (unless you are in a full hybrid, where you could keep the engine off and drive at low speeds on the motor and battery alone!).
Even conventional technology could help. Check out our UCS Guardian with an idle-off feature that would do the same thing. It is not a hybrid, but it sure would do a lot on its own. The GM hollow hybrids have this feature too... while they may be misleading the public about hybrid technology, at least you could cut down on fuel use a bit if you need a pickup.
Posted by: DJF
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