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Print articleLaunched by Fiat at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, eco:Drive is a free-of-charge tool that helps drivers understand the impact of their driving style on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Using a USB stick plugged into the car's dashboard, eco:Drive records detailed information about the vehicle and how it is driven, which can be uploaded on to a computer. It then gives an analysis of the driver's performance, along with suggestions on how to improve efficiency further by improving driving methods.
"eco:Drive offers real benefits, helping drivers to improve their driving efficiency, saving fuel and reducing their impact on the environment," says Andrew Humberstone, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK. "And that's going to be well worth considering as we move into a new year."
Drivers using eco:Drive can become part of eco:Ville, an environmentally-friendly on-line community. Members have used it to offer ideas and feedback over the last three months, which Fiat has responded to – already the company has released four enhanced versions of the system.
eco:Drive will soon be available for use in the Fiat Bravo and Qubo – it already features in Fiat 500 and Grande Punto models – and there are plans to further widen the scope of the technology across the entire car range and even into commercial vehicles.
How it works
As you are driving your car, "ecoDrive" processes in detail all the information relating to the vehicle's efficiency and your driving characteristics. Thanks to the versatile Blue&Me's USB port, all the data is transmitted via a normal USB key and can, therefore, be "read" on a computer at a later date.
In fact, the user can carefully analyse consumption and emission on each journey they make (ecoIndex) and receive advise on how to drive in order to create less impact on the environment. Thanks to a series of progressive tutorials, you can improve your score: just think that drivers who are more conscious of their "eco-responsible" driving can expect to improve their driving style by 15%, and that means: reduce CO2 emissions by 15% and see an annual saving in fuel of between 120 and 200 Euro.
