Do stop-start systems wear out your car’s starter?

Chrysler Engine Stop-Start (ESS) technology  -  slated for 2015 Jeep CherokeeSome are almost unnoticeable, others make the car shudder each time they activate—but stop-start systems are here to stay. First rolled out in Europe and Asia, where crowded city driving requires cars to spend more time at a standstill, they switch off the engine when the car's not moving. When the driver starts to lift a foot off the brake...

48-volt mild hybrids heading toward ubiquity in Europe as diesel declines

Johnson Controls 48-volt lithium-ion micro-hybrid batteryPublic concerns over diesel cars, and their ebbing sales, have become a well-documented phenomenon in Europe after decades of popularity. When the VW diesel scandal exposed deliberate cheating, and real-world testing revealed that no virtually no diesels certified for sale actually met emission limits, automakers across the industry adopted rapid...

Would weaker EPA rules kill advanced start-stop hybrid systems for U.S.?

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid debuts at 2017 New York auto showToday's political climate has made for fluid motion in regulations, and corporate average fuel economy targets haven't been left out. Suppliers and automakers have already begun investing heavily into vehicles to be sold in 2022 through 2025, which will include various fuel-saving and emission-reducing technologies. However, that unsettled...

Don’t start-stop systems wear out your car’s starter?

Mercedes-Benz integrated starter generator (ISG)Some are almost unnoticeable, others make the car shudder each time they activate—but start-stop systems are here to stay. First rolled out in Europe and Asia, where crowded city driving requires cars to spend more time at a standstill, they switch off the engine when the car's not moving. When the driver starts to lift a foot off the brake...

Diesels to lose two-thirds of current market share in 10 years: report

BMW quad-turbocharged 3.0-liter 6-cylinder diesel engineSometimes interesting predictions come buried inside a completely different topic. Take, for example, an investment note on the auto-parts supplier Continental contained in a roundup of industry research, market analysis, and news items issued yesterday by investment bank UBS. It contains the prediction that diesel engines' share of the global...

Start-stop systems to soar in number over next decade

2017 Nissan Sentra NismoPlug-in electric cars are slowly becoming more common, but internal-combustion engines will remain a significant presence on the world's roads for decades to come yet. That means automakers will continue trying to squeeze ever-greater efficiency out of these engines, making them more complex in the process. This will almost certainly include a...