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Wayne Gerdes, a pioneer in the hyper-miling movement who runs the Web site CleanMPG.com, said Honda is at the top of auto makers when it comes to displaying fuel consumption. He said he has not yet seen the new Ford display to be introduced today. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122523962284178307.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/504/Prius_I_MFD_79_3_at_189_miles_-_Commute_RT.jpgMatthew Doyle - Wall Steet Journal - Oct 29, 2008

Fuel economy on the dash for that instant, trip, and lifetime should be standard on all vehicles -- Ed.

Rising gas prices have dramatically increased Americans' interest in tailoring their driving styles to save fuel. Now auto makers are rushing to help out.

On Wednesday Ford Motor Co. will unveil a new dashboard system that is supposed to help people modify the way they drive to get every last mile out of a gallon of gas.

Called "Smart Gauge," it will debut next year in the 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan gas-electric hybrid sedans. The interactive system provides four levels of information display, from a basic "Journey" mode to the content-rich "Empower" level that will offer the most detail on engine performance and feedback on how to improve fuel efficiency

In the past, some cars and trucks had a rudimentary fuel-economy indicator, often a needle tied to how hard a driver hit the accelerator, said Edmunds.com road-test editor Brian Moody. But now more people are becoming tuned into fuel economy as concerns grow over wildly fluctuating gas prices and as drivers become more environmentally conscious, Mr. Moody said… http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122523962284178307.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

This is probably fit for another thread, but I think there is a market for customizable dashboards, just like your computer has wallpaper. Just make the odometer, the speed, and a number of idiot lights non-negotiable, but allow readouts of other data customizable and the dash larger, even to the point of allowing a videocam of the rearview mirror. I'd have FE the largest readout after speed, and digital readouts of coolant temp, voltage, oil pressure, that would be small, but blink in red in the "idiot alert" mode.

The trend accelerated with the introduction of hybrid vehicles, especially the Toyota Prius, which offered a display screen that looked like a mini power plant, where rising and lowering bar graphs showed battery usage.

Another article by a semi-informed author. While the above quote is not completely wrong, the bar graphs in a Prius are of course used to display fuel economy, not battery usage. There is a single bar graph for battery state-of-charge, but that has almost nothing to do with fuel economy.

And of course the fool had to put something in there about drafting trucks...

Harry

Hi Chuck:

___Wow, that was fast! Although we did not have any discussion about the garbage posted, he pulled most of the information about the iFCD and aFCD’s available.

___I have an online conference with Ford today discussing the new Fusion/Milan hybrids and I suspect this is when the gauge will be shown in action. I have the story on the new Ford Eco-Gauge going up in a few but for now, it looks a bit gimmicky. It should work however…

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Oh, lets have the "designer dash" not only big, but programmble with WiFi. If there are multiple drivers, they can change parts of the dash.

And display the OBDII Check Engine code!

I suggested this to a GM engineer at HybridFest 2008...we will see if it makes it to the Volt.

Frankly, this is an option they could make a bunch of money.

It's a good idea and will help a few people, but most people driving in these 19-25mpg combined vehicles will probably disregard it. They may see it as more of a gimmick than an actual tool for them to improve mpg. Unless it actually forces people not to hit pound the accelerator as hard, this will only help the minority of people that will focus on fuel economy.

Another thought about "SmartGage" - Ford should get with Microsoft on this...it might even work better than Vista :p

I think many people will disregard it, at least at first.

As time goes by people will notice how much gas they are really wasting when they mash on that pedal. Some won't care, but some will take it to heart. How much they take it to heart will determine how much they save on gas.

It would be great to make this standard with every car and certain cars to have backup cameras for those big blind spots when putting it in reverse.

Some people would say it would be a distraction but there's no excuse for doing 20 over the speed limit because you weren't paying attention.

A better idea would be for the government to increase the cutoff for the gas guzzler tax to 25-30 mpg and put a yearly tax on people owning cars with 2.5L or larger engines. That will really drive people towards fuel efficient cars.

Hi All,

The color modulation with parameter variation is very ergonomic. You should recommend that to Ford, Wayne. Especially for the tachometer. People can percieve color without directly looking at it. That is very hard to do with a bargraph or needle gauge. And computer screens these daya have good color resolution.

I like it! Future driving clinics:

"For best FE, accelerate at a blue-green / teal color."
"no, no... that's too green... now it's too blue..."
"That's more like turquoise!"
"Aaaargh!" :D

Seriously, I like it.

Maybe a gauge that shows how much mashing on the pedal is costing instead of how much gas you're wasting. You enter how much per gallon you paid and the car figures how much it costs at any given moment. That way people would have a much more tangible readout.