« Ford H₂ F-350 Truck | Main | Isuzu Taps Westport for Next-Gen CNG-DI Truck »

Peugeot’s New Stop & Start System: 6-15% Fuel Savings

7 September 2004

PSA Peugeot Citroën today introduced its new Stop & Start system for fuel savings and emissions reduction.

Such idling stop-and-start is a standard feature of hybrid electric vehicles. Peugeot’s is the first implementation of idling stop-and-start on a standard internal combustion engine vehicle. The big difference between Peugeot’s Stop & Start vehicles and hybrids is that when the Peugeot engine shuts off, there is no electric motor to take over.

With Stop & Start, the engine automatically turns off and enters standby mode when the vehicle halts at traffic lights and traffic jams. The engine re-starts within 400 milliseconds when the brake pedal is released, with the vehicle pulling away once the accelerator is pressed. The Stop & Start system reduces fuel consumption by 10% for city driving, 6% in a standard combined cycle and up to 15% in heavy traffic. CO₂ emissions drop by a similar proportion—if the engine is not running, it’s not consuming or emitting. Pretty straightforward.

The Citroën C3 1.4i 16V Stop & Start, which will be rolled out in early November, will be the first mass-produced car equipped with this system. Peugeot will gradually extend the system to other Citroën and Peugeot vehicles.

Stop & Start activates when the vehicle exceeds 6 mph for the first time and the battery is sufficiently charged. A driver can shut the system off manually. The system automatically deactivates under certain conditions for safety and comfort—if the defroster is on, for example, or if the outside temperature is too hot, requiring continuous air conditioning.

Stop & Start consists of three primary elements:

• A reversible alternator that works both as a starter motor and alternator, and is driven by a special belt and tensioner.

• An electronic control unit

• A battery capable of a high number of charge/discharge cycles

The engine restart is silent and, according to Peugeot, transparent to the driver. Restarting the engine consumes fuel equivalent to two to three seconds of idling. Thus, if the car is stopped for more than three seconds, the Stop & Start system begins saving fuel.

This is good work, and a good example of hybrid-like technology making its way into mainstream vehicles.

September 7, 2004 in Fuel Efficiency, Vehicle Manufacturers | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (2)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22062/1099012

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Peugeot’s New Stop & Start System: 6-15% Fuel Savings:

» Stop & Start from WorldChanging: Another World Is Here
Hybrid cars are defined by having an electric motor as part of their propulsion system, either as an assist to the gasoline engine (as with... [Read More]

Tracked on Sep 7, 2004 3:24:35 PM

» New Energy Currents: 2004-09-15 from Winds of Change.NET
Three years after September 11th, there is more attention given to non-oil energy sources than ever. We bring you updates on Wind power, Solar, Nuclear, Natural Gas, The Grid, Hydrogen/Fuel Cells, Geothermal, Coal+, Biofuels, and other new developments... [Read More]

Tracked on Sep 14, 2004 7:39:06 PM

Comments

Post a comment
[Please keep comments on topic. Disagreement is fine, insults, abuse or wild diversions are not. Comments not meeting those standards will be deleted. Abuse of another commenter’s email address will result in the banning of the offender from this site. In an attempt to prevent the posting of insulting and abusive comments, this site maintains a list of prohibited words and phrases, which, unfortunately, grows with time. Including one of the prohibited words or phrases will flag the comment as "spam", and it will be blocked.]