- Robin Brown
Q.
Every new car I look at seems to say it comes with stop/start technology. What is it, what does it do and is it really important?
A.
Stop/start technology is an energy-saving technology that comes on lots of new cars.
It’s a relatively straight forward piece of equipment to get your head around. Essentially it switches your car engine off when you are idling, in other words when the engine is running but you’re not using it, namely at traffic lights or in stop/start traffic.
The system is triggered when a car comes to a standstill and the engine is ticking over, at which point the stop/start system will deactivate the engine once you are in neutral. By turning the engine off when it is not needed, you are saving fuel and reducing emissions.
The engine will then turn back on automatically once the clutch is applied and a gear selected.
Older stop/start systems had a noticeable lag after the accelerator was applied but more recent examples are much more usable and precise.
It’s not the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to an economical new car but it will certainly help, it just depends how important fuel economy is and whether it’s worth shelling out more for your new car to reap the rewards in the long run from fuel savings. Image courtesy of epsos.de via creative commons licence.