Skip to main content

Study aims to improve fuel economy by up to 30 per cent

A US$1.2 million three-year research project, one of the first major US studies to focus on 'eco-driving' techniques, conducted by the Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California, Riverside, is aimed at the development of a next-generation, environmentally friendly driving feedback system with the goal of generating fuel savings of between 10 and 30 per cent. The project is being funded by a US Department of Energy grant, which is part of a $175 million federal programme
March 20, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A US$1.2 million three-year research project, one of the first major US studies to focus on 'eco-driving' techniques, conducted by the Center for 4106 Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California, Riverside, is aimed at the development of a next-generation, environmentally friendly driving feedback system with the goal of generating fuel savings of between 10 and 30 per cent. The project is being funded by a US Department of Energy grant, which is part of a $175 million federal programme aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of the next generation of US vehicles.

Participants in the project include the University of California at Berkeley, Riverside Transit Agency, the 2451 California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), 212 esri, 3516 Navteq, 4107 Earthrise Technology, 4108 Beat The Traffic, and Automatiks. Work on the project will be based out of the Center for Environmental Research and Technology at UC Riverside, while field tests will be performed by commuter and commercial travellers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The three-year project aims to develop and demonstrate a comprehensive driver feedback technology that will improve fuel efficiency of passenger cars and fleet vehicles of businesses and government. This technology already exists on a small scale, but this study will make large advances in a fully integrated feedback system that includes better trip planning and routing, improved efficiency while driving, and comprehensive reporting on a periodic basis."This grant allows us to go beyond small, anecdotal studies to show, on a large scale, the significant positive economic and environmental impacts of eco-driving principles and the value of feedback systems," said Matthew Barth, the principal investigator on the project and the director of UC Riverside's Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the Bourns College of Engineering.

Related Content

  • Integrated corridor management offers transportation efficiency
    May 28, 2013
    In the Intelligent Transportation Systems world, the concept of managing roadway or transportation corridors is not new. Smart Corridor concepts have existed for some time, such as the Santa Monica Smart Corridor system from the 1990s. Across the world, a new emerging model for operating roadway transportation networks called integrated corridor management (ICM) has emerged. This is particularly true in California, where several new ICM projects have or are being deployed. There is a new paradigm for corrid
  • SmartDrive testing safer signalised intersections for emergency responders
    May 15, 2012
    While both the police and firefighting are recognised as occupations that carry dangers, nearly 13 per cent of the firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty are killed in vehicle-related incidents, while fire trucks are involved in ten times as many collisions as other heavy trucks.
  • MAD about Vitronic in Germany
    April 30, 2025
    Vitronic has supplied two of its latest sensor columns to the project MAD Urban (Managed Automated Driving for Urban Mobility and Logistics) being set up in Braunschweig (Brunswick).
  • Industry leaders to design national model for EV deployment
    March 21, 2012
    A new coalition of executives from blue chip companies in the US transportation and utility industries has come together to design a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) demonstration project that will help create a comprehensive national model for EV deployment.