How dirty are our Stags? Should we switch off at junctions?

[Guest]

Any technology which entails pouring energy in one end then throwing 90% of it away is no better than the steam engine of WATT.......
Our whole society is obsolete but arrogant in the extreme, then dumped nuclear power saying it was dangerous...

Ah, but there we have a point, our entire society is still based on steam.....nothing has changed in 200years.
We still boil water and put it through a turbine as steam to make volts and amps, then transport it 100s of miles of lossy cables to where it might eventually be needed, including 50% redundancy on back up..
...going on an "clean" electric train are we now?

This is to make those supercilious dicks driving Teslas around feel comfortable, and eco superior, with the radioactive fly ash that coal fired power stations are not dumping in Henley or Pangbourne or wherever those hypocrites live that drive them.

[mike@thenook]

I’ve got a simple answer to the original question and it is

“no”

Also, I have a 2009 Cooper S with start stop and a 2015 RR sport and on both I turn it off whenever I drive them - the Cooper daily - reason...
The sound of loads of cars re-starting endlessly in a jam does my head in and being cynical as always I am convinced it’s just a marketing gimmick to sell more starters and battery’s!

[STypeR]

Any technology which entails pouring energy in one end then throwing 90% of it away is no better than the steam engine of WATT.......
Our whole society is obsolete but arrogant in the extreme, then dumped nuclear power saying it was dangerous...

Ah, but there we have a point, our entire society is still based on steam.....nothing has changed in 200years.
We still boil water and put it through a turbine as steam to make volts and amps, then transport it 100s of miles of lossy cables to where it might eventually be needed, including 50% redundancy on back up..
...going on an "clean" electric train are we now?

This is to make those supercilious dicks driving Teslas around feel comfortable, and eco superior, with the radioactive fly ash that coal fired power stations are not dumping in Henley or Pangbourne or wherever those hypocrites live that drive them.

Yes very true. We have to spend energy to get and refine the electricity in the first place just as we have to spend energy to get and refine the crude in the first place as well; yes I have heard all the arguments but a similar concept here exists. Same with ethanol, we have to spend energy to grow and refine the plants to use for energy anyway. And not as much bang for your buck with ethanol, car systems can be modified to cope with the corrosion but if we could economically produce ethanol from bulk by products or waste then that may make sense.
You could of course all convert to the power zapping emission carbs and canisters we in Aust and the USA etc had to deal with..

[Wisey]

I thought the reason modern turn off is that during the emissions drive cycle, the vehicle is stationary. So by turning off, you get lower overall emissions during that cycle. But, as the BBC point out, drive cycles and real world emissions are quite different, so does a modern turning off it's engine really make any difference at all? I'm more worried by the endless non-emissions regulated power backup generators dotted across our cities, and the chiller units on top of most HGV's that are small enough to dodge emission regulations. But, maybe I'm wrong.

[TR5convalescent]

I'm going to ask the Nissan dealer to disable this on my wife's Quashquai. It switches off if you are stationary for more than about 3 seconds. At a junction, the time taken to power up for a quick exit is enough to either lose the chance or pull out right under someone's wheels. IMHO, auto stop technology is potentially lethal.

[DJT]

I'm going to ask the Nissan dealer to disable this on my wife's Quashquai. It switches off if you are stationary for more than about 3 seconds. At a junction, the time taken to power up for a quick exit is enough to either lose the chance or pull out right under someone's wheels. IMHO, auto stop technology is potentially lethal.

VAG cars have a button on the dashboard to disable the feature, however it resets every time the ignition is switched off. It can be switched off by the owner by drilling down into the dashboard computer.

[alan_thomas]

Nothing new about this Stop at traffic lights technology, my first car, an A30, had this feature 50 years ago!

After a time I learnt how to adjust the idle speed

[Andy S]

My Stag already does this and can often be followed by a number of worrying clicks as it checks to see if I want to save the planet before restarting.

This stop/start feature seems crazy. I can't believe the money saved on fuel will ever balance the increased costs involved in the replacing the starting motor prematurely.

Andy S

[fussydave]

It can be switched off by the owner by drilling down into the dashboard computer.

What size drill bit do you use?

Dave

[fussydave]

Interesting that auto boxes have inhibitor switches to prevent them being started while in gear yet this is exactly what the stop/start technology does. I also have to opt out of the SS each time I start my Mondeo which is annoying.

Dave

[Kithmo]

The Prius turns off the engine and sets off on electric, so no delay, instant acceleration. FWIW, electric car batteries are all recyclable so there's no future environmental hazard.

[mike@thenook]

electric car batteries are all recyclable so there's no future environmental hazard.

But what about the production methods of these batteries and the content/materials involved?

Also,

The Hamster had a very lucky escape when his battery engined £1m + supercar did a flip and caught light very quickly - no fuel involved, just batteries..

Worst of all is the likelihood of many more pedestrians getting squashed because they don't hear the damn things coming before they step into the road - I've had several very near misses with those bloody bendy busses red Ken put in London!

[Kithmo]

electric car batteries are all recyclable so there's no future environmental hazard.

But what about the production methods of these batteries and the content/materials involved?

Also,

The Hamster had a very lucky escape when his battery engined £1m + supercar did a flip and caught light very quickly - no fuel involved, just batteries..

Worst of all is the likelihood of many more pedestrians getting squashed because they don't hear the damn things coming before they step into the road - I've had several very near misses with those bloody bendy busses red Ken put in London!

I'm not trying to offend or upset anyone and I'm totally not bothered about the environment, I'll probably have shuffled this mortal coil long before the earth blows up or whatever (unless North Korea steps in), but production methods for electric or hybrid car batteries are no dirtier or environmentally bad than extracting coal or other minerals.
Pedestrians who don't look before crossing the road (usually cos they're on their mobile) deserve to be squashed.
As for hamster, he'll do anything for a laugh

[mike@thenook]

Sorry Kithmo - I didn't mean to appear offended except the bit about deserving to be being squashed

- those buses in London (and you have to have been there to know what I mean) were seriously dangerous to pedestrians - lucky they all go binned but they weren't electric, just had the engine 40' from the front!

[jakesmig]

......................
Pedestrians who don't look before crossing the road (usually cos they're on their mobile) deserve to be squashed.
......................

Tough s**t if you're visually impaired in your world, with 2 sensory functions down and only touch to go it'll be comforting to know the technology that got you was green.