Toyota Will Make Eco Driving Indicators Standard on Non-Hybrid Vehicles

7 January 2008

Toyota plans to make vehicle efficiency indicators standard in all of its vehicles, hybrid or non-hybrid. In a post on its Open Road Blog, Toyota said that in conventional, non-hybrid vehicles, these indicators will be called Eco Driving Indicators.

We’re making this move because we’ve found that when hybrid drivers use their Hybrid Vehicle System Indicators, their driving habits change as the system provides feedback on efficiency. And as driving habits change, drivers could experience estimated improvements of from 5% to 10% in fuel economy.

The current plan is to include Eco Driving Indicators on all next-generation Toyota, Lexus and Scion models after the launch of the next-generation 4-Runner in Aug ‘09. Just what the Indicator will look like in each model hasn’t yet been determined.

But generally, the Eco Driving Indicator would include an Eco Zone Display, which would indicate the throttle opening and whether the driver is driving efficiently. It also would include, for automatic-transmission-equipped vehicles, an Eco Lamp that would illuminate if the driver drives efficiently enough to stay within the “Eco Zone,” and that would, for manual-transmission-equipped vehicles, illuminate at the optimal shift point. Finally, it would include an Average Fuel Consumption Meter to provide the average fuel-economy number since the vehicle’s last fueling or system reset.

The Hybrid Vehicle System Indicator would include the same basic functions as the Eco Driving Indicator. But it also would include a Power Meter to display system output and regeneration power levels, and a Consumption Display that would include information such as Energy Collection, Average MPG, Instant MPG and Cruising Range.