STUDY PROVES TURNING YOUR VEHICLE OFF MINIMIZES BOTH FUEL
CONSUMPTION AND CO2 EMISSIONS.
You may have heard that it takes more fuel to turn your
vehicle off and back on again than it does to stay idling when stopped. One
fast food chain even made a claim that it was “Greener” to use the
drive-through than parking and walking in for a to-go order. With fuel costs
and anti-idling laws being an essential consideration for vehicle owners and
fleet managers, it’s important to know the facts.
The fact is that even for short stops, it saves fuel to turn
off your vehicle. Idling for even 10 seconds produces more CO2 emissions and
burns more fuel than simply turning your engine off, and restarting. This was
found by a study done by Argonne National Laboratory, and funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program.
IDLING STUDY RESULTS
Engineers were tasked to study vehicles in the Argonne laboratory’s
Advanced Powertrain Research Facility to determine the impacts of idling and
restarting. Dynamometer tests were conducted at the facility and revealed that
parking a vehicle, turning it off, and then restarting it uses less fuel and
produces less CO2 than idling for just 10 seconds. In addition, the study also
revealed that the fastest way to warm up a car engine is to drive the vehicle,
not by idling it. Argonne found that depending on the vehicle’s size, 0.2 to
0.5 gallons of fuel per hour is used when idling.
EMBRACE ANTI-IDLING LAWS
With these findings, and as states, provinces, and countries
continue to introduce climate change action plans and green initiatives focused
on greenhouse gas emissions, now is the perfect time to start embracing an anti-idle
mindset in day-to-day driving and work operations.
VEHICLE IDLING STUDY CONCLUSION
Going back to the fast food chain’s claim, no, it is not
greener to use the drive-through than it is to park and pick up your order
inside the restaurant. Here are the facts:
- Idling
for more than 10 seconds burns more fuel, and produces more C02 emissions
than turning the engine on and off
- Idling
for an hour uses 0.2 to 0.5 gallons of fuel, depending on the vehicle, and
fuel consumption increases as idling speed increases
- Warming
up a vehicle by driving is more effective than idling
Consider these findings next time you find yourself idling
your truck, whether working on a job site, picking up a food order, or warming
up your truck this winter.
You may also consider adding a transferable service body from Fleetwest to your work truck pickup to increase your fuel economy. Fleetwest offers fiberglass service bodies that are ergonomically engineered and lightweight to reduce fuel consumption. Give us a call today to find out how to save for tomorrow. Toll free in the U.S. (866) 497-7200
