A supplier at this week’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit told visitors that adoption of start/stop technology will grow dramatically in the next two to three years.
“The wave is coming,” noted Robert Martin, director of engine electrical engineering at Denso International America. “Using start/stop, we can boost fuel economy by three to five percent, and that’s what the manufacturers want.”
Start/stop, which involves stopping a car’s engine at traffic lights as a means of saving fuel, is being viewed as a key technology in the North American automotive market because of pending 35-mpg fuel economy requirements, which must be met by 2016. Moreover, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that Americans annually burn about 3 billion gallons of gas while sitting idly in traffic, which wastes money and adds CO2 to the environment. Start/stop can help solve those problems, Martin said.
Denso’s solution is a beefed-up starter motor that’s connected to the car’s battery by a switch. The motor meets the performance requirements of start/stop operation, offering about ten times more starts than conventional starter motors. Martin said that conventional starter motors are built for a lifetime of about 35,000 starts, whereas start/stop motors must offer about 350,000 starts.
The technology is expected to offer an average fuel economy boost of about 3-5% — as much as 7% in big cars and less in smaller vehicles.
“These products will start appearing in North America in 2012,” Martin said. “We’re talking to all the OE’s (original equipment manufacturers) and we’re expecting big growth.”
For a fuel savings of only 3~5% - and then only in city driving – I'd hate to add the longevity and reliability issues likely to occur:
Stopping an ICE generally causes a short-term, but fast and significant increase in case temperature.The only prevention of this is to continue the flow of coolant through the engine, plus the radiator fan in many cases.Now the electrical system must support the coolant pump at every stop.It must also ensure that over-cooling does not occur to reduce temperature changes, which shorten the life of the internals of the ICE.
I'd also be surprised if even an improved starter and flywheel could put up with engine starts at every stop without significantly reducing the lifespan.It seems this should be accomplished via the power train.This would only be feasible in a hybrid electric or starting from each stopped position would include the delay of the initial stabilization of the ICE after startup.
For a person that expects 200K~300K miles of good service from a vehicle, these look like shaky configurations for this small level of fuel efficiency.
This tech isn't new as it's been done for over 50 yrs, just rarely in cars because gas was so cheap. Many used the old DynaStart generator/starter unit back in the 40's.
I fail to see why instead all cars don't have the flywheel as the starter/alt that can also be used for regen/braking and acceleration boost at little extra cost if any. By joining the 3 saves copper, alum casings, pulleys, belts and their losses, etc,
And savings from a smaller engine could make it even cost less while cutting fuel use 15-20%.
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