So, I have a intersection that is a sensored 6 way,. In heavy traffic, I had to wait a bit over 60secs before I get the green.
The question: What is the expected wait time where it is better to kill the ICE vs keeping it at idle?
I would suspect that in a 3 minute or more wait time it might be ok to shut off the ICE. Just remember that starter life would take a beating and the people behind you may be quick on the horn if you are slow to restart the engine.
what is the expected wait time if everyone turned their engines off and waited until it was green to restart their car and go?
or
what is the expected wait time before someone honks at you for not going right away?
Many European vehicles have auto kill switches when you idle. If you stop and the gear shift is in neutral, the engine automatically stops. Push in the clutch and put it in gear and the engine starts again. I believe that this will be offered in the US soon if it isn’t already. I am not sure if it works on cars with automatics. I never had one in Europe. I also understand that hybrids use the auto start.stop function.
Our Prius and I imagine other EV’s kill the ICE at stops, so what is the time vs gas for pure ICE cars. Significant savings can be had if more cars had a kill and motiv starts. Oughta be an app somewhere.
I understand the Malibu has a electric assist on starts.
The further back you are in the queue, the longer the wait at stops. Another app.
Hybrids use the BIG electric battery and motors for the start part of stop/start, and it’s almost unnoticeable. Non hybrids with stop start (BMWs and some GM ‘mild’ hybrids are the ones I know of) apparently are VERY noticeable, and some folks disable it.
Not worth doing in a regular car, considering all the shifting in and out of park/drive required.
On hybrids, the starter generator are often the same, some times connected by gear drive, sometimes with a belt but other way quite a bit more stout then the way we use it today. Either way, autos designed for frequent starts, like golf carts can and do take the abuse easily.
If you lived around here your starter and ignition switch would be worn out pretty quickly along with your patience. The traffic light situation is the biggest joke on the planet. It appears designed to keep people waiting.
Light goes green and if you hurry you can catch the next one going red…
In some cases, with no cops or others in the way, I’ve had to proceed on red because 10 minutes with no cross traffic is enough.
I only wait for 8 minutes with no cross traffic. :biggrin:
Engine start-stop is going to be very common in a few years. Some of the priciest European luxury models have it and it isn’t driving anyone insane. On some models it comes on fast, others not so, but it does need a beefed up starter motor to work well. I believe it’s Mazda that’s working on a system to shut the valves and make sure the motor stops in a position that lets cylinder pressure give the engine a push to get it back going. Supposed to work quite well in the lab. Kind of a neat trick.
I think the Focus offers the start-stop in Europe, so that’s not all THAT pricey a vehicle. Not sure if it’s here in the US yet or not, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be coming.
I found it a little unsettling at first on the BMW 118d, but I got used to it.