Software tweak could boost your car’s gas mileage 3%

Think it’s possible to improve your car’s gas mileage just by downloading a new piece of software? Seems to be the case according to a Dutch scientist who this week said most modern cars could reduce fuel consumption by almost 3% by downloading software he and Ford worked to develop. John Kessels’ software shuts on or off the car’s alternator, which charges the car battery, when it is particularly inefficient for the engine to power it, thus improving the overall efficiency of the engine. A similar technique is used for hybrid cars. The software is not proprietary to Ford and can be used in any vehicle with an engine computer, which includes the vast majority of cars sold today, Kessel says. However, the software is not quite ready for release as Kessels and Ford are looking at the implications for the software on the battery. They’d also have to figure out how to most efficiently distribute and support it, experts say. Kessels does expect to release the patch by the end of the year. Kessels has also been looking at techniques to shut the engine off when it is idle – say when the car is a long traffic jams – that he says would save as much as 6% of the car’s gasoline consumption. This technique , however, would require significant adjustments to the car, including installing a more powerful starter motor and an automatic gearbox. There are other ways to save gas. Here are a few and here are a few more.