Geeky? Green? Learn to drive green with the EcoGyzer
In this world where there seems to be a gadget for everything, there must be unusual gadgets to monitor your driving and teach you to drive green, right? Yes, we all know the basic rules: go light on the gas pedal, using high gears as early as possible, being gentle on the brake pedal... While you can get Fiat's eco:Drive that plugs and downloads your driving data to a PC, not all cars have this ability. For non-Fiat drivers who want a bit of techno-help, meet the EcoGyzer, a French-developed gadget that uses GPS to record your driving data. Then it links to a PDA or a cell phone app and teaches the driver to drive efficiently. The device will be unveiled in a few months, but is aimed not only at the eco-concious driver, but also at fleet users who can also use more ways to find fuel savings.
[Source: EcoGyzer]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Irving Isler 10:44AM (6/03/2009)
ScanGauge II (http://www.scangauge.com/)
More fun and more utilitarian (see and clear engine/ecu codes).
'Nuff said.
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Phil L. 11:42AM (6/03/2009)
Quick note about ScanGauge: It's cool - but uses a vehicle's OBDII port, so is only applicable to model year 1996 or newer. My daily driver is a '95, so I miss out on OBDII fun...
Yikes 11:47AM (6/03/2009)
There is a very cool app for the iPhone called REV. Should also work on an iPod Touch.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090519.002/rev-app-turns-iphone-into-performance-driving-and-obdii-diagnostics-tool
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James 11:56AM (6/03/2009)
I like to see development of new ways to help people to drive more efficiently. Here are a few past examples:
A student group at the University of Michigan a few years ago studied systems for giving drivers interactive cues to help them drive more efficiently:
http://designscience.umich.edu/pdf%20files/APD-2006-09.pdf
Another group looked at GPS route optimization, but instead of using shortest distance as the objective, they used minimum fuel consumption (including terrain and traffic).
Some simpler systems are in production. When I drive my Honda with low throttle it operates in 3 cylinder mode, and a green ECO light comes on. This simple cue really helps reinforces efficient driving, as I try to keep the light on as much as possible.
Something I've thought about recently as well is how cycling can help people learn to drive their cars more safely and efficiently:
http://www.design-impact.org/blog/2009/05/what-cycling-can-teach-us-about-better-driving/
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Mark 12:26PM (6/03/2009)
I drive this car and it already has the technology installed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Micra#K12_.282003.E2.80.932007.29
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DasBoese 12:50PM (6/03/2009)
Nice idea, but a bit redundant.
People interested in driving economically will generally research and apply fuel-saving driving techniques on their own (seriously, it's not that hard), while people who don't care aren't likely to buy one anyway, you'd have to build it into the car if you want to get them to think before they floor it. Which some car manufacturers do.
It's a bit like those programs for turning off undesirable features in Windows that used to be popular a while back. They essentially make changes that you can easily do yourself after about 5 minutes of googling.
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DasBoese 1:10PM (6/03/2009)
As a little anectdote on the side I forgot to tell:
Back when I was learning to drive and ride a motorcycle (It's possible to get both licenses in one go in Germany), my teachers would show and encourage the use of fuel-saving techniques during the practical lessons.
I think if driver education raised awareness for economical driving from the start in young drivers, that'd be magnitudes more effective than any such gizmo.
Jon 4:48AM (6/04/2009)
So this box uses GPS to work out the data and then sends it to a smartphone. Don't most smartphones nowadays have GPS anyway? Wouldn't it have been far easier for the manufacturers to create a smartphone app that did this?
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