According to Reuters, Nissan said on Monday that it has invented an accelerator pedal for their future cars that is somehow slapping your foot off it. It can push back on the driver’s foot when it detects too much pressure and bad fuel efficiency while accelerating.
Of course, having this device can be annoying sometimes, so they also said they would install the “ECO pedal”, which can be switched on or off by the driver. It didn’t specify which Nissan models will be equipped with the new technology.
Nissan’s internal research showed that the system comes with real-time fuel consumption levels displayed in the instrument panel. Showing the driver his bad driving habits could improve the car’s fuel efficiency by 5-10 percent depending on driving conditions.
Last year, Japan’s 3rd automaker promised to develop a fuel consumption indicator for all their new cars. There are already independent parties who make these types of indicators and sell it on the Internet. e.g. ScanGauge). Nissan’s consumption indicator indicates the optimal level for fuel-efficient driving by displaying a green, flashing or amber light.
The latter innovation is more useful to the driver at any time, while the pedal is useful only in city driving situations, when the excess of “pedalling” can take precious $$$ out of your wallet in a year.
[via]
