| Stand-by for Your Car |
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 Your computer has a “stand-by mode” that allows you to save on electricity. Soon your automobile may be equipped with a stand-by mode to help you save on gasoline.
France's biggest carmaker, PSA Peugeot-Citroën, has just introduced a new Stop & Start system that will be available in the Citroën C3s in November of 2004. This system will switch the car’s engine to stand-by when you are stopped at a traffic light or in a traffic jam. The car will instantly re-start when the driver removes his foot from the brake and will be ready to accelerate by the time the driver’s foot reaches the gas pedal.
Citroën says the system will cut fuel consumption by about 10 percent for normal city driving and can save you as much as 15 percent in very heavy traffic. Harmful carbon dioxide emissions will also be reduced. The Stop & Start system is expected to add about $660 more to the cost of the vehicle. Citroën has created this innovative system to be advantageous to individual drivers as well as society as a whole, who will benefit from reduced noise and air pollution. The new system will gradually be extended to other Citroën and Peugeot vehicles, and, if it proves to be popular, other carmakers may follow suit.
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