EcoMode Software Teaches Green Driving Tips

New Ford Focus drivers will be able to take advantage of a new in-car software application that monitors the impact of their behavior on fuel economy and then offers up simple hints on how to improve eco-driving skills through a fun scoring system.

EcoMode is a handy software application that coaches customers in the art of eco-driving – and then rewards those that practice more fuel-efficient driving skills with in-car kudos displayed on the instrument cluster.

“The foot of the driver has one of the biggest impacts on real-world fuel economy of a vehicle and was the starting point for the development of EcoMode,” said Thomas Schick, an engineer with the Ford of Germany Core Vehicle Integration team who helped design the software. “This is a useful tool that creates awareness between personal behavior and fuel consumption and offers up hints on how to improve. Applying those hints and recommendations is all up to the driver.”

Eco-friendly driving habits include:

Using the highest drivable gear
Smooth accelerations and decelerations
Maintaining constant speeds and anticipating traffic flow
Using cruise control on the highway
Avoiding excessive idling
Avoiding short trips with a cold engine

During a drive, the scoring system generates hints on how to gain more leaves for each discipline. A driver looking at the advice screen for Anticipation, for example, may see the hint “Smooth driving saves fuel” displayed on the cluster if he or she is accelerating, decelerating or braking unnecessarily. In Gear Shifting, driver advice might include “Early shifting saves fuel,” if the driver is not shifting up as early as possible in conjunction with their acceleration.

Focus drivers can review their generated score against the software’s optimized patterns for each of these disciplines. Scores are displayed using an easy-to-follow five-leaf icon, with two leaves set as the default and five leaves being the maximum achievable score.

What do you think about this new feature? Do you think it would really help you be a more efficient driver, or is it just a distraction? Share your thoughts in a comment!

Also Check Out:
15 Easy Ways to Save Gas
Ten Most Dangerous Foods To Eat While Driving
8 Ways To Green Your Ride
Which Cars Are The Greenest?

Image Credit: automotive-fleet.com

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Jennifer C.

1:39AM PDT on Sep 19, 2011

Thanks for sharing.

September 19
send a green star

KS G.

4:43AM PDT on May 11, 2011

Thanks for the article.

May 11
send a green star

Robert O.

4:12PM PDT on May 9, 2011

Good to know, although it'shard to implement some of these when one lives in a traffic congested concrete jungle. Very useful to remember though.

May 9
send a green star

Eternal G.

3:51PM PST on Mar 10, 2011

OKAY!

March 10
send a green star

Steve A.

2:40PM PST on Feb 22, 2011

I think this could be the start of something big.

Just link the software to the net and run it as the "most eco-friendly driver of the week" contest. The prize? how about a tank of fuel and your name in lights on the website?

With an international link for best in the world?

It may even get F100 drivers thinking about economy!