Your Next Car May FORCE You To Save Gas!

August 11, 2008

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., last week unveiled the ECO Pedal, which they describe as “a world first technology designed to assist drivers to become more fuel-efficient.” The official press release reveals how the system will work.

“When the eco-pedal system is on, each time the driver steps on the accelerator, a counter push-back control mechanism is activated if the system detects excess pressure, helping to inform the driver that they could be using more fuel than required.

Did you get that? The car, if it thinks you’re accelerating too rapidly will actually PUSH BACK on the gas pedal. Being a reformed long-distance commuter, I’ve witnessed the lead-foots and worse – incessantly darting, stopping, starting, recklessly weaving – well, you’ve probably seen it yourself on your way to Kroger. But can a car compensate for human judgment? Or should it?

Here’s Nissan’s vision as described in their words. “In order to achieve reduction in CO2 emissions, Nissan takes a triple-layer solution that encompasses vehicle technologies, driving behavior and traffic conditions. The ECO Pedal supports the second-layer addressing driving behavior and is among a range of eco-friendly technologies being pursued under the Nissan Green Program 2010.”

Well, that’s comforting. They’re doing it all in the name of their “green” initiative.

And that’s good news for the folks at Treehugger.com, who say “Feedback is very important. If you don’t know how you are doing, it’s very hard to improve. That’s why the big screen in the Toyota Prius helps you drive more efficiently, and that’s why we should make electricity meters easy to read and put them inside houses. With the ECO Pedal, Nissan has come up with a new way to get fuel economy feedback while driving.”

“The way it works is simple. When the system is on, each time the driver steps on the accelerator, a counter push-back control mechanism is activated if the system detects excess pressure, helping to inform the driver that they could be using more fuel than required. After a while of this Pavlovian regime, you can’t help but learn which behaviors the car “approves” of and which you should avoid.”

The ECO pedal has drawn negative commentary on the popular tech blog, Gizmodo.com. One post reads “I’m all for exploring new technologies that help us save gas, but I think Nissan has gone a little too far with their “Eco Pedal.” Another said, “As asinine and unsafe as all of this sounds, at least Nissan had the good sense to implement an on / off switch.”

I tend to agree with David Thomas of Cars.com who says “We have one major issue with this system: If you are in a risky situation and need to accelerate quickly to avoid it, you’re out of luck.

Nissan plans to commercialize the ECO Pedal during 2009. Research conducted by Nissan has shown that by using the ECO Pedal drive system, drivers can improve fuel efficiency by 5-10%*1, depending on driving conditions.

About the Author:
Ken Ivey is a veteran technology addict, consultant, author, web designer, and President of MidTN Technology, a marketing and web design firm. For more information, call 615-278-9324 or visit www.kenivey.com