Should you Idle a Diesel or Hybrid Car?

Idle a Diesel Car? New Technology Not Being Used in the US – Does it Matter?

don't idle your car

I previously wrote about whether you should idle petrol or gas-fuelled vehicles. 

Now let’s look at diesel and hybrid cars.

Should You Idle a Diesel Vehicle?

Idling is also bad for modern diesel-powered vehicles.  On start-up, don’t idle for more than 30 seconds, or 1 minute if it’s really cold.

(Older diesels needed time to get the oil around the engine to reduce friction – this is now done automatically and much more quickly – your manufacturer’s handbook will provide further details).

If you need to stop, and you’re going to be still for more than around 3 minutes, switch it off instead of leaving it to idle – you’ll save fuel, money and pollution.

In cold weather, actually switching off a diesel engine keeps the engine warm longer.  If you want to keep the air conditioner or heater going inside the vehicle, it won’t maintain the temperature you want while idling.

If you’ve been driving really hard on a long journey, you may need to let the engine idle for a minute to cool down, but under normal usage you can just switch off.  (If you see truckers idling their vehicles, they may be just wasting fuel, unless they have a very old truck!).

Should You Idle a Hybrid Car?

Hybrid CarIf you have a hybrid car, you don’t need to worry about idling at all!

Idle-stop, or stop-start as it’s often called, shuts down a car’s engine completely when it isn’t needed. The engine restarts when the driver accelerates.  It’s all handled automatically.

Idle-Stop or Stop-Start Technology

In Europe and Asia most hybrid cars offer this technology, and they are selling well. Idle-stop was slower to arrive in the US, and was originally available only in luxury models such as the Porsche Cayenne and BMW M3.

Car manufacturers said there were no government incentives to add Stop-Start to their cars. And some car industry players were quoted as saying their customers “don’t care about fuel economy”. (The price of gas / petrol in the US is much less than for example in Europe).

Since 2016 however, the technology is more widely available in the US, which is (theoretically) good news for the environment. But here’s what’s different about US drivers – many switch the option off!

That means they’re not benefiting from fuel savings, and they’re using more fossil fuels than they need to. And it’s one of the reasons quoted by Mazda for not adding Stop-Start to US cars – even though their Japanese cars have used the technology since 2010.

Does that matter? What do you think?

 

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Tags

10 seconds, car engine, car idle, catalytic converter, engine damage, engine idle, idle, lower pollution, reduce car pollution, reduce carbon footprint, reduce emissions, save fuel, Save money, save petrol


  • Clare, this is something that I dont even think about at all until I read your article I had no thoughts about when to turn the ignition off but then again I drive over 250 miles a day.
    Scott Sylvan Bell

    Now go implement!

  • The car industry people who say that we “average Joes” don’t care about fuel economy and savings must be smoking something illegal! Nothing could be further from the truth.

    Dennis

  • Not sure if still the case but until very recently, the Ford F series truck was the biggest selling single vehicle make in the US – a serious gas guzzler by most standards at 22mpg. I know Ford are thinking smaller but I think this shows that the motor industry does believe that the public don’t care or are being told not to.

  • Clare, anyone who thinks that “people” don’t think about fuel economy or any other economy simply are not paying attention! The MANY Americans that I speak to who have moved to Costa Rica or who are considering moving here all cite cost of living as a major reason….and those who are not moving (because of family, etc) but who are on fixed incomes are VERY interested in cost savings measures!
    Sonya Lenzo

  • Hi Clare,

    I think this is just another example of how the US auto industry is going to decide what we want and then convince us it is what we want through marketing. I am sure there is a segment out there that doesn’t think about fule economy but there is also a large and growing segement that does.

    I have heard that the draw backs to hybirds is that their batteries are very caustic to the environment and they have very little resale value because the average battery life is about 5 years and they are virtually cost pohibited to replace – is that true?

    • The article is on idling cars, now we’re getting into the pros and cons of hybrids – but certainly there are resources involved in producing a hybrid, as well as the issues of battery disposal at end-of-life. From a climate change point of view, we need to move away from fossil fuel use, so hybrid cars help us to do that – but no, they’re not ideal. I haven’t studied re-sales vale so I can’t comment on that. I think some of the newer technology hybrids such as those running on a compressed gas cylinder instead of a battery show a lot of promise. I think if you want to be green with cars, look at ways to reduce your car use (by sharing rides, by car-pooling, using public transport etc) and make intelligent decisions on where you choose to live in terms of transport options, rather than just assuming you’re going to need a car every time you want to go out. Thanks for your comment Rob!

  • Clare, take it from me. The government incentives that are meant to stimulate actully do the opposite. It’s almost as if the gov’t is inadvertantly removing a consumers ability to think. I saw this first hand when I had an air conditioner rated at 21 SEER that qualified for a $1500 rebate. The cost was around $10,000. I also had a 14 SEER that didn’t qualify but only cost $7,000. Since the $1500 didn’t close the gap I sold tons more 14 SEER. The 21 SEER is 50% more efficient but the math and immediate reward got in the way of logic.

  • Clare,
    I want a hybrid car!
    I read an interesting post about how many times people lie.
    Could the whole car industry be based on a lie?
    Looking forward to tomorrow!

  • I notice truck owners usually don’t switch their engines off when making brief stops . The engines just clatter away .

  • Hi Clare ~

    That is such a cool feature about hybrid cars that automatically shuts down the engine and restarts it upon acceleration. As for the car industry morons that says we Americans don’t care about fuel economy need to shut their traps and actually ASK US what we want and the DO what WE say!

    Stay Amazing and Do Great Things, Neil

  • Hi Green Goddess,

    Thank you especially for your providing this ecofriendly car information which is not so readily available in the United States. While I do not yet have a hybrid car, certainly that will likely be my next car purchase when the time comes to purchasing a car.

    Happy Dating and Relationships,

    April Braswell

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