Let's say you manage a fleet of vehicles, and your bosses want it updated. "Make it cleaner," they say, "more efficient." There any number of hucksters (and their hard-won tax breaks) out there who will try to convince you that ethanol is cheaper and sends the right PR message. What they won't tell you (until it's too late) is that converting to E85 costs money and reduces efficiency. Converting to hybrids will come with a sphincter-clenching price tag, if you can even find enough Priora for sale. So what's a fleet manager to do? Invest in education. A Ford-sponsored study at Green Car Congress shows that lessons in eco-driving techniques can bring down fleet fuel economy by as much as 26 percent. That's right folks, an automaker-sponsored study shows that you can save gas without necessarily buying some gimmicky product they're hocking! That 26 percent average reduction came after four days of testing by 48 drivers. Individually, efficiency improved between 6 to 50 percent with instruction. Screw the overhyped technical innovations; this is the real game-changer. Too bad Detroit can't put it in a bottle and sell it. But since they don't have any Priora to sell, this may just have to do.
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“Congress shows that lessons in eco-driving techniques can bring down fleet fuel economy by as much as 26 percent” (?)
Hmm, how about installing rev limiters at 3500 RPM? I’ve seen plenty of fleet vehicles driven to redline – from traffic light to traffic light.
-ted
And the spoiler to the article: “Among the eco-driving practices that drivers can begin practicing on their own are driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph, keeping tires properly inflated at the recommended pressure, and eliminating prolonged idling. ”
So, yesterday I was walking by a parked light truck in the company parking lot and noticed that the engine was running! Nobody was inside the vehicle; nobody was anywhere to be found. I assume the person left the engine running so the A/C would run and keep it cool. But I have to wonder: If they were only going to be gone for a few minutes then it wouldn’t warm up that much without A/C running and if they were gone for hours then that’s quite a departure from “eliminating prolonged idling.”
Here are a few tricks that exist in the heavy truck segment, which can probably be applied and will work without any training:
– Idle shutoff. Basically, the egine shuts down after a preset amount of idle time, let’s say 5 or 10 minutes. It will prevent your fleet from standing around in parking lots at idle just running the a/c or heat.
– Speed limiter. Most heavy trucks have a programmable top speed. Set it at 60mph. I was going to say 55mph but that’s just cruel.
– Rev limiter. I think these exist. Set at 3000rpm on gas engines, lower on diesels.
– This may not be a popular one, but you could disable the a/c entirely on your fleet.
zerofoo-interesting idea
Bunter
We actually do this now with out fleet–it’s tied to a GPS system as well–and, believe me, it works. When your drivers know that you’re watching them, they don’t idle, speed or gun it from lights nearly as often. You get an insurance benefit from some providers, too.
The freedom-loving hippie in me hates that it works so damn well.
Another neat trick is that I can tie it into OBD-II or J1708 and get engine metrics, so you’ll know when you’ve got problems in advance.
Wait, so you mean people are *hurrying* back to work in their company cars!?!
Driver’s ed reform wouldn’t be a bad idea. While they’re at it, try teachin the kiddies a little lane discipline. That should make the freeway a much nicer place.
I’ve always put conservation and change of habits will make the biggest and easiest difference we can make as Americans to reduce our dependence on oil and negative impact on the environment. However, we as a society believe that the small things do not matter much but we can all overcome it with some fancy product to do it for us. It never works and is the reason why GM is where it is today and pinning its hopes on the Volt vaporware concept.
highrpm: This may not be a popular one, but you could disable the a/c entirely on your fleet.
A/C has at least one useful benefit beyond passenger comfort: window defogging. However, with a bit of thought, I bet you could get that benefit without having to cool the entire interior…
Anyways, it’s a fairly small load for most mid-size cars and larger (I see it as about 0.5 litres/hour on the ScanGauge). For trucks it’s positively insignificant.
Too bad Detroit can’t put it in a bottle and sell it. But since they don’t have any Priora to sell, this may just have to do.
I just wonder how many American Priuses could be sold. I’m not even talking about reliability issues, I just think the market is still too limited. Most people I talk to are still very uncomfortable about hybrids and would rather buy a small, economical four-cylinder car (Civic, Fit, Corlla, etc…).
Of course, I could be wrong, and the big e^1.03 could sell a ton of American Priuses…
I just wonder how many American Priuses could be sold. I’m not even talking about reliability issues, I just think the market is still too limited.
It would help if they weren’t artificially limiting supply. Toyota sells every Prius and Camry they make and wishes they could do more; Ford and GM are intentionally limiting their offerings (and pricing them way above their worth) because they’re not making enough money on them.
The Escape is actually quite good, but you’d be hard pressed to actually find one.
psarhjinian, I believe Toyota is making as many Priora as they can. It’s just that Toyota steers much output to the European Union nations where the high cost of fuel makes them more desirable than here in the USA and the strong euro (relative to the US dollar) converts car sales back into more yen.
I don’t know if I’ve ever achieved a 26% increase in fuel economy, but as a teenager my father told me to imagine that there was an egg between my foot and the accelerator pedal. If that concept is not one of the “eco-driving techniques”, it should be.
@SunnyvaleCA
It’s just that Toyota steers much output to the European Union nations where the high cost of fuel makes them more desirable than here in the USA
So why is the Prius not even in the list “Top 100 best selling cars in Germany”?
I had to dig really deep for sales numbers, apparently they are around 250 a month, half as much as Audi A8s (which is the 100th best selling car).
Even the Phaeton sells more than 300. The Golf? 20,000. BMW 3-series? 6,000.
If you ask an European about efficient cars, there’s a lot that will come to his mind before the Prius.
– Rev limiter. I think these exist. Set at 3000rpm on gas engines, lower on diesels.
It would make way more sense to use smaller, less powerful engines. They’d be cheaper, lighter, and even more efficient than limiting the engine speed of an oversize engine. But I suppose it’s not really possible to find, in the North American market, anything beyond a Smart car that has at least twice as much power as it really needs.
Granted Chebby is no longer making the Astro, But it was much better suited to my job, than the V8 E 150 that is my current work van. Wotta beast.
My advice is to tailor the fleet to specific needs, not use the 1 size fits all method. Also offer some sort of incentive for cheapest gas fill ups, most MPG, fewest breakdowns, etc. Also, you will get more out of your troops if you forget the GPS.
@ TexasAg03
I was very close to buying a Prius instead of a Saturn when I bought new in 2001. I don’t regret the purchase of the Saturn as it held up well enough for me but if I had it to do over again I would have bought the Prius.
I would have seriously considered a used Prius when I bought used cars in 2003 and 2008* if it weren’t for the fact that a used Prius isn’t cheap enough to offset the condition of the vehicle. It pretty much forces you to buy new unless you are in one of the top largest cities such that there is a bigger pool of used vehicles to choose from**.
Give me the old Saturn SL2 updated with a Prius quality hybrid system cheaper than Honda or Toyota could do it and I’d consider it.
I’d even consider it if you did the same for the old L100 or whatever a suitable GM equivalent would be that can follow the low sticker price higher value proposition (vs the other models like the way overpriced L200/L300 were).
Heck give me a local source for a reliable used Prius in the 2004-2008 range that isn’t overpriced or lower the price on a brand new Prius and I won’t bother to worry what GM or Ford or Honda or anyone else is doing.
*(one for my girlfriend one to replace a damaged vehicle that was in an accident)
** For example in my town I can’t find a used Prius under $20K on an average day. In Atlanta you can find them for half that price, not because the cars are that much cheaper (the difference in price on a similar car would be about 10 to 20%) but just because you can find one still on the lot for sale in Atlanta that is actually in the lower price range. You just can’t find a hybrid of any make or model in my town for less than $20K no matter how old it is. It won’t sit on the lot for more than half a day.
Right this minute a vehix search gives me a 2006 Prius for $24K and a 2008 Prius for $30K in my zip.
Toyota website says delivered to my zip a 2008 Prius is $22,220.
If they could make a profit on a Prius selling for $18K new out the door I and hundreds of thousands of other buyers would be lined up for one.
There is plenty of pent up demand for a Prius or a serious Prius competitor. We just want prices to come down a bit and availability to rise.
@ rpn453 :
It would make way more sense to use smaller, less powerful engines. They’d be cheaper, lighter, and even more efficient than limiting the engine speed of an oversize engine. But I suppose it’s not really possible to find, in the North American market, anything beyond a Smart car that has at least twice as much power as it really needs.
“Needs” vs. “Wants”. There has to be a balance in there somewhere, and Toyota/Honda have been somewhat successful in pulling that off.
Want a car that’s based solely on needs? You’ll end up with the automotive equivalent of a Wartburg. Or a Tata Nano. Because that’s all the car you need, am I right? Or perhaps you don’t need a car at all…….
Meanwhile, if the Big 3 took the above to heart and did just that, then you’ll have underpowered cars with unchanged curb weights that require double the effort to motivate, canceling out any gains in fuel efficiency. I’ve been there with my damn-near post-malaise Caddy with its choked-up 5L Olds engine, and I’d hate to see the automotive world go back to that.
Hey Andy D, have you given any thought to the Ford Transit Connect that they’re supposed to be bringing over mid 2009? I wonder if that will be successful in the fleet/work vehicle niche.
Want a car that’s based solely on needs? You’ll end up with the automotive equivalent of a Wartburg. Or a Tata Nano. Because that’s all the car you need, am I right? Or perhaps you don’t need a car at all…….
Meanwhile, if the Big 3 took the above to heart and did just that, then you’ll have underpowered cars with unchanged curb weights that require double the effort to motivate, canceling out any gains in fuel efficiency.
Engines are more efficient when they’re operating close to peak output, and a smaller engine should always use less fuel when idling and warming up. Gearing often lowers or elimates that difference, but if efficiency is the goal you will see gains by using a smaller engine with an appropriate drivetrain to take advantage of it.
I certainly don’t need a car. I barely even use my car as it is! It’s fun to have though. I don’t think there’d be any point in owning something that isn’t enjoyable to drive, but it doesn’t need to have power for me to enjoy it. Replace my 2.3L with the 1.4L available in Europe, and I’m sure I’d still find it comfortable and enjoy the way it rides and handles. The 2.3L was the only option in 2004, but I’d buy the 2.0L version of the Mazda3 hatchback (available in Canada) if I were buying my car today.
It just seems like an absurd idea to buy a 250 hp car and then limit it to 125. I love every bit of the 7100 rpm available to me when I want to use it, but most of the time I drive smoothly and calmly.