Nissan’s ECO-accelerator pedal helps reduce fuel consumption

Discussion in 'Nissan' started by xcel, Aug 4, 2008.

  1. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    System to go live by 2009.

    [xfloat=left][/xfloat]Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG - Aug 4, 2008

    TOKYO -- Nissan Motor today unveiled the ECO Pedal. A technology designed to assist drivers to become more fuel-efficient. When the eco-pedal system is on, each time the driver steps on the accelerator, a 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. An eco-driving indicator integrated into the instrument panel feeds the driver with real-time fuel consumption levels to help improve his/her driving behavior. The ECO Pedal system can be turned on or off according to the driver’s preference.

    The ECO Pedal drive system is reported to improve fuel efficiency by 5-10% based on Nissan’s internal test data.

    How it works

    The ECO Pedal system is fed data on the rate of fuel consumption and transmission efficiency during acceleration and cruising, and then calculates the optimum acceleration rate. When the driver exerts excess pressure on the accelerator, the system counteracts with the pedal push-back control mechanism.

    The eco-driving indicator incorporated in the gauge cluster indicates the optimal level for fuel-efficient driving. When Driving within the optimal fuel consumption range, the indicator is green. It begins to flash when it detects increased acceleration before reaching the fuel consumption threshold and finally turns amber to advise the driver of their driving behavior.

    Nissan’s ECO-Pedal system configuration

  2. spooley

    spooley Member

    I think every car should come with, or at least have an option, something like a scan gauge. I bet that 5-10% is quite pessimistic. Just knowing your mileage all the time would make it easy to get that improvement. I've been ecodriving for about a year now and I bet I'd still get 5-10% better fuel economy with a scan gauge. I know the principles but not accurately enough to optimize everything in every case.
  3. ascribe2thelord

    ascribe2thelord Recreational Hypermiler

    Most cars built back in the 1980s and early 1990s have resisting gas pedals, but these aren't computer controlled. It's built mechanically so that it's hard to press down past a certain point - very good for hypermiling! It's as if there's a brick under the gas pedal keeping you from driving inefficiently.

    No need to buy a new car. ;) Just get an old buzzmobile.
  4. nissynis

    nissynis NC Attorney

    I suppose a pedal that tells you to lighten up is the next best thing to having Wayne or Sean or the like in your passenger seat, telling you to lighten up. Hey, there's an idea -- Wayne's voice coming over your sound system: "a little hot coming up to that stop sign, weren't we?"
  5. fizzviic

    fizzviic Old Bat

    I'm all for anything that might aid in conservation of limited gas supplies.
  6. psyshack

    psyshack He who posts articles

    Wayne can get DI. :)

    A poster mention resistance in older cars. Those were the springs and other stuff that you felt as you were opening up the seconary barrels of the carb. :)

    I just don't know about a subsystem like this. Are people really so stupid as to not know were they are in the stroke of a gas pedal?

    I think many folks should have NEVER been given lic. to drive.
  7. F&T

    F&T Well-Known Member

    Eco-pedal sounds like a very good improvement to me. In fact, once it's tuned up properly it could be a Godsend for the otherwise distracted soccer moms or cell phone gabbies.

    But no one, so far, has noted that once again, and without fail, Detroit has been trumped, and by one of the lesser Japanese manufacturers. Arrrgh, is Detroit going to wither and die right where they are? They're already bleeding, no hemoragghing, cash like there's no tomorrow.

    Looks to me like we don't have to worry about the Japanese completely taking away the American automobile market because Detroit is going to give it to them. Nothing wrong with the Japanese manufacturers, they do a fine job. In fact, I drove Hondas for years for a total of well over 500K miles.

    Faithful and True
  8. jsmithy

    jsmithy Well-Known Member

    My Grandma's 1979 Chrysler New Yorker had this feature. :)

    The accelerator pedal was the hardest that I have ever felt in any car.
  9. JusBringIt

    JusBringIt Be Inspired

    haha!, I have not laughed this hard all day!
  10. Jough96Accord

    Jough96Accord 1996 Honda Accord 2.2l 5spd

    All this device does it relay to the driver the amount of (or lack of) vacuum. Buying a simple vacuum gauge at a local parts store would give nearly the exact same feedback. My friends BMW 535i had a "mpg" gauge, it was just a vacuum gauge with rough esimates for mpg, nothing more. Forget about this gimmick and use something that shows real fuel comsumption, like a SG.
  11. pumaman

    pumaman Well-Known Member

    I like this idea a lot. Fuel economy feedback without having to take your eyes off the road, or at least not having to read and interpret a lot of numbers. One reason I yanked the scangauge was because I was spending too much time with my eyes inside the cockpit.
  12. Earthling

    Earthling Trying to be kind to Mother Earth

    When mpg's drop below 30, a electric shock should applied to the driver, like James Bond playing against that one villain... Now that would improve fuel economy dramatically.

  13. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi Harry:

    ___You are an evil man :D

    ___Good Luck

  14. JusBringIt

    JusBringIt Be Inspired

    Didn't you say you were running for president?:flag:
  15. Earthling

    Earthling Trying to be kind to Mother Earth

    :p It would work, wouldn't it?

    Last edited: Aug 5, 2008
  16. MaxxMPG

    MaxxMPG Hasta Lavista AAA-Vee Von't Be Bach

    If they can't get the right voltage through the steering wheel, maybe some old Streisand songs played at 78rpm, sampled and built into a chip in the radio, ready for playback based on TPS reading. Rather than risking cardiac arrhythmia in road ragers getting continual shocks, we can drive them into sheer surrender from a 110 decibel blast of what can only be described as "The Chipmunks on Crack". Sure, you can drop the pedal, but be prepared for the din!
  17. Bruce

    Bruce cheapskate

    I guess I am...TPS is one of my most-valued gages for hypermiling. :)
  18. fireflyfarm

    fireflyfarm Well-Known Member

    Wow, I'd be getting zapped 5 times every morning, on the climbs up those PA hills. Even at 20 MPH, I drop to 28-29 MPG. I go back up to 38-40 on the downhills, at least!
    I'd prefer the shocks to the "Music", though.
  19. fireflyfarm

    fireflyfarm Well-Known Member

    They were whining about this on the radio this morning. "What if you're pulling out onto a highway?"
    Turn it off, then back on when you're safely in the traffic stream!
  20. nissynis

    nissynis NC Attorney

    And, since I see you are from outside Pittsburgh, let me note that much of the rest of the country actually leaves you plenty of room to merge without flooring it first. Those on-ramps around Squirrel Hill in the Burgh, though, especially the one with the STOP SIGN at the bottom.....

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