Do Traffic Lights Hold The Key To Saving Fuel?

SUPERMARKET fuel price cuts may come and go, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to achieve longer lasting savings.

German car maker Audi thinks it may have the answer, as it’s developed a system that ‘talks’ to traffic lights. The goal is to save fuel by alerting drivers to when lights change so they can slow down, plus prime a car’s engine stop-start system when a change from red to green is imminent.

By using the car’s in-built internet connection – something Audi plans to roll out to more models – it will be able to communicate with a city’s traffic management centre, hence the ability to know when lights are changing.

Audi calculates that its traffic light interaction system has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 15 per cent and, crucially, could save approximately 900 million litres of fuel if it were to be deployed throughout Germany.

The car maker claims the technology is production ready, and only requires a change in legislation for it to be implemented. Testing is currently underway in the northern Italian city of Verona, where 60 traffic lights covering almost the entire city centre are involved, and in Berlin, where 25 Audi customers are driving the hi-tech cars.

By Press Association reporters