New Traffic Light Technology!

This driver was NOT listening to his Mary On Board

EYES ON THE ROAD

OCTOBER 26, 2011

The Back-Seat Driver in Your Dashboard

New Interactive Features Are Aimed at Making Efficient Motoring Fun Like a Video Game

• By JOSEPH B. WHITE

Hyundai

Hyundai's Veloster features a fuel-economy game that awards points for efficient driving. Scores can be shared with other drivers.

Remember when Mom or Dad would nag you about wasting gas by driving too fast? Now your car can do it for them.

Joe White on Lunch Break looks at how car makers are developing and installing new technology designed to coach you to drive more efficiently. Put simply, it's like having your back seat driving mom built into the car. But there are twists.

Technology designed to coach you toward a more efficient style of driving is showing in many new cars. Options run the gamut from simple displays of fuel consumption, to interactive video games, to a gas pedal that actually pushes back when you stomp it.
Auto makers view these features as lures for younger, cash-conscious and tech-savvy buyers. They might also help car makers meet coming federal fuel-efficiency standards. Research indicates these electric noodges can make a significant dent in fuel consumption, if drivers actually follow the advice the systems give them.
Car makers are treading carefully. They want to engage their customers in the effort to conserve oil, but they don't want to irritate them and don't want to compromise safety by making eco-driving displays too distracting. Most of these technologies can be ignored or turned off if drivers choose.

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Hyundai

Hyundai's Veloster

At the far end of the in-car coaching spectrum is Nissan Motor Corp.'s Infiniti and its "Eco Pedal." It is a gas pedal that, in "Eco" mode, gently pushes back against your foot when the car's computers decide you're romping too aggressively on the accelerator. The brand began offering it as part of a $3,000 optional "technology package" with other advanced safety systems. About a fifth of the M-line buyers get the technology package, which also will be offered on the 2013 JX luxury crossover, due to be debuted in November, Infiniti says.

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Ford

The Lincoln MKZ hybrid.

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Ford

A gauge in the Lincoln MKZ hybrid features growing vines and leafs to reward drivers visually for efficient motoring.

Hyundai Motor Co.'s sporty new 2012 Veloster three-door coupe has a fuel-economy game programmed into the screen that also displays the car's location, onboard entertainment and telecommunications. The "Blue Max" program measures the car's fuel economy every 10 minutes and displays a score. Drivers can share their score with other Veloster owners using the car's Blue Link wireless link.
Fuel economy is important to the Veloster's young, target buyers, says Hyundai Motor America's senior manager for product planning, Brandon Ramirez. "Gen Y is into gaming," he says, which is why they chose a videogame format. Although the car just came out, Veloster owners are already comparing their scores in an online forum.
It wouldn't be the first time drivers have turned trimming fuel use into a game: Some owners of hybrids and other cars compete with themselves and each other by "hypermiling," using various techniques to cut gasoline usage.
Ford Motor Co. uses images of a plant that grows as drivers motor more efficiently in its Fusion Hybrid model. And Toyota's Prius and Camry hybrids offer detailed, displays of real-time fuel economy.
Auto makers are experimenting with these features in part because future federal fuel-economy regulations could give them valuable credits under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, rules for installing them. And researchers have found that gentle nagging by coaching systems works.

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Nissan

Infiniti's M-series

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Nissan

The gas pedals in Infiniti's M-series cars gently push back if stomped on when the optional 'Eco' mode is engaged.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have been experimenting with ways to give drivers instantaneous feedback on their driving efficiency for about five years. UC Riverside researchers equipped the cars of about 20 people with devices that gave them information about their real-time miles per gallon. Seeing that information led to savings ranging from 5% to 15%, researchers say.
Now, the researchers are embarking on a larger, three-year study, funded with $1.2 million from the Department of Energy. It's aimed at finding how much drivers can save if they have detailed information on the most fuel-efficient route to a destination—based on traffic and road conditions—coupled with coaching technology giving drivers instantaneous performance feedback.
Savings "could go up to 30% under ideal scenarios," says Kanok Boriboonsomsin, one of the researchers on the project. It's a worthy goal, as boosting a car's mpg by 30% through hardware changes—lighter materials, new transmissions, or tiny engines—can be expensive.
Still, the word "ideal" is important: Ideal conditions for driving in a fuel-saving manner aren't easy to find or sustain.
I took a spin in one of the UC Riverside's test vehicles—a heavily modified Nissan Altima bristling with computers and antennae. Accelerating out of the parking lot, my real-time mpg sank well below the roughly 20-mpg target for city driving on the screen.
Things improved coasting downhill, but when I accelerated up the on-ramp to merge with traffic, my real-time fuel economy dipped below 10 mpg.
Michael Todd, a UC Riverside researcher who chaperoned my drive, says mashing the accelerator to get on a freeway can overwhelm the car's exhaust-scrubbing systems. So, not only is the car burning a lot of fuel, but it's adding a bigger-than-average load to air pollution.
The message from the UC Riverside data is that relatively small changes in behavior can produce fairly substantial reductions in fuel consumption.
The overall problem, Mr. Todd says, is that "most people aren't taught how to conserve fuel" when they learn to drive.

The Imported Sports Car

The work of a certain timid but thorough lawyer was valued for its precision, so soon he was making money to buy himself a nice imported sports car.

Not long afterwards he had the misfortune to get lost in the worst part of town, and when he stopped at a red light a huge, mean son-of-a bitch hauled him out of the driver’s seat.

Drawing a circle around him on the pavement, the hoodlum told him not to set foot out of it unless he wanted the crap beat out of him. The delinquent proceeded to demolish the car, starting with the headlights and windows, when he heard the lawyer giggling.

He moved on to the body and engine, but in between crashes he couldn’t help hearing gales of laughter.

Finally, crowbar in hand, he came over to his victim and demanded, “What you laughing about? Your fancy car’s never gonna run again.”

“So?” the lawyer gasped helplessly, tears running down his face. “Ever since you started tearing up my car, I’ve been stepping in and out of this circle, in and out, in and out…”

Report: Poor Driving Habits Can Lead to 45% Drop in Fuel Economy

Published September 9, 2011

On the whole, hybrid drivers tend to be pretty attentive to the driving habits that can help them squeeze as many miles per gallon out of their cars' official EPA ratings as possible. Now, a new study suggests that all car owners should take care follow to proper eco-driving practices, and that failing to do so can hurt a vehicle's average fuel economy by as much as 45 percent.

According to researchers at the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, factors ranging from tire inflation to road selection can add up to transform even the most fuel-efficient gas cars into guzzlers. For instance, the owner of an EPA-rated 30-mpg vehicle with poor eco-driving practices could see his average fuel economy drop to as low as 17 mpg if he failed to hit a single point on the study's checklist—equal to the combined rating of a 2011 Land Rover.
Report authors Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle divided these poor efficiency habits into three categories: Strategic decisions, which included engine tuning, tire rolling resistance, tire pressure, and motor oil use; tactical decisions, which included route selection, road grade profile, traffic congestion and load weight; and operational decisions, which included idling, speed, aggressive driving, and cruise control and air conditioner use. Of these factors, route selection, speed, and engine tuning demonstrate the highest potential to sap fuel economy.
The study noted that real-world fuel economy in the United States is just 17.4 mpg, and has risen a paltry 3.4 mpg since 1923. The government-mandated Corporate Average Fuel Economy for cars was 27.5 mpg last year, but those numbers are determined by EPA testing—not by the real-world experiences of drivers. Sivak and Schoettle also point out that perhaps the most profound factor in the stagnancy of automotive transportation efficiency is vehicle occupancy. Since 1960, vehicle occupancy in the United States has fallen 30 percent, causing the average energy intensity of driving to rise by about 30 percent in turn.

Does the Answer Lie in the Center Console?

So if the simplest, most cost-effective ways to increase fuel economy sit not in the hands of manufactures but drivers themselves, how can we coax car owners to do the right thing? Much of the answer can come from the advanced computer systems being installed in many common vehicle models today. These high-tech center consoles were developed in part to help hybrid and electric vehicle drivers monitor their fuel economy and state of battery charge, and have been integrated with GPS navigation and “infotainment” systems to radically alter the driving experience.
Factors like route selection and driving aggression can already be optimized using systems currently found in most hybrids—some of which coach users on the best ways to improve fuel economy as they drive. Computer monitoring of maintenance issues like tire pressure and engine tuning could also help to lead car owners to better eco-driving habits.
While which car you drive can make all the difference in the world, it certainly isn't the only factor in determining fuel economy. In theory, a combination of good car maintenance, smart driving and carpooling can be just as powerful a fuel-saver as buying a green car. So why not just do both?

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GPS Drama

Drama with the GPS

By: Shamelessly Sassy

 

My husband Adam and I took a road trip to Mississippi last week for his job. We brought along our handy dandy GPS, because we were under the false impression that it would be the answer to our road tripping prayers.

 

We named the GPS Sheila, but decided to pronounce it all redneck like and actually call her Shayla. By we, I mean Adam, because he is forever naming random items.

We put our destination in and pretty much left our road travel fate in Shayla’s hands. The only problem was that she got a little angry when we strayed from her directions.

If we stopped at a gas station, Shayla would begin shouting that she was, “recalculating.” She was really pretty hateful about it. Persistent, also: She would shout “recalculating” until we got back on our path.
Shayla honestly got a little out of control. She started taking us on crazy roads, and I think perhaps she is the crackhead, anthropomorphized version of a GPS. Like if your GPS is Albert Einstein, mine is Amy Winehouse. Except we call her Sheila/Shayla and she isn’t British like many GPS voices. (Which makes me sad, I desperately wanted a GPS with a nice foreign accent.)

Anyway, at some point in our trip Shayla starts having us make turns every 1.5 miles onto back roads that looked as if they were rarely, if EVER, traveled. One of them was even half gravel. I’m not even kidding. It was like the episode of The Office where Michael trusts his GPS and follows its instructions exactly as given. In the end, the GPS drives him into the lake. That was us. Michael Scott just following the GPS until it takes us somewhere bizarre.
(This is a nice time to insert how much I LOVE THE OFFICE! Love, love, love!)

Most of the trip was spent cussing Shayla. Like the time she directed us to turn too early and then blamed the turn on us.

“RECALCULATING … RECALCULATING … RECALCULATING!” Shayla shouted. As if she was the one put out by her shitty directions?

“@#$%^&^%$%# SHAYLA!” Adam screamed in frustration, “You keep giving us all of the wrong directions.”

This went on and on and on. The directions weren’t incorrect. They were just long and full of turns. The sort of directions your grandmother might give you to the grocery store, because she doesn’t believe in the interstate. That’s Shayla. Your fitful granny.

You would think we would wise up on the way back and find our own path, but if you did think that, you would be wrong. We put our fate in Shayla’s hands? Again! She took us home a completely different way, and in the course, drove us through four different states. FOUR DIFFERENT STATES.

“DAMN IT, SHAYLA!” Adam screamed some more. The only problem was that Shayla doesn’t respond kindly to cursing. Shayla doesn’t respond kindly to anything. In fact, she seemed to lose satellite signal not long after that. Leaving us out of luck and following the maps on my iPhone.

But eventually, we did get home. Shayla is buried in my trunk beneath all of the crap I never, ever get plan to get out like stray flip flops and the pieces of gravel Allie picks up when she wants to collect rocks. Shayla is there, and I’m pretty sure she will stay there for a very, very long time.

Mary On Board will tell you things you won't find on Mapquest!