Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/80542
analyze this The Idle Stopper Stop-start technology is coming to a combustion engine near you by Paul Sinkewicz MYTHS ABOUT IDLING ABOUND. Have you heard this one? It takes more gas to restart a car than to leave it idling. Not true, according to Natural Resources Canada. Idling for longer than 10 seconds actually uses more gas and produces more carbon dioxide than restarting the engine. So do you want to save money on fuel and help the environment, too? Stop-start technology can lend a hand. What is it? A stop-start system shuts off your vehicle's engine when you're stopped in traf- fi c (or in a drive-through lineup), and turns the engine on again, automatically, when it's time to go. Just like that: no more idling. While the technology has been around for decades in Europe, and it's long been a component in North American hybrid vehicles, it's just now becoming widely available for vehicles with standard internal combustion engines in Canada. Global production of stop-start-equipped vehi- cles is expected to grow from three million to 35 million by 2015. How does it work? The vehicle's computer sends a signal that cuts the engine when the wheels come to a complete stop. As soon as the driver releases the brakes or applies the clutch, an electric generator takes power from the battery to quickly crank the engine back to life. Manufacturers tout the restart process as almost imperceptible (though at fi rst driv- ers might fi nd the engine silence at stoplights a bit unsettling). 46 WESTWORLD >> SEPTEMBER 2012