Two cars teach, nag and score how green you’ve become

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

It’s easy to tell how fast we’re driving. We just check the speedo, notice the rest of the traffic reversing toward us and press the throttle a little further. We might even make a game of it -- see if we can take that familiar corner 5 mph faster. But how do we know when we’re driving in a conservative manner? Two car companies, Ford and Honda, have their own solutions.

Ford -- EcoGuide rewards with green leaves
The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid (and its upscale Mercury Milan Hybrid sibling) has the so-called SmartGauge with EcoGuide. It’s an instrument cluster, Jim, but not as we know it. On either side of the good ol’ analog speedo is a liquid crystal display screen, one of them with the image of green leaves. As the driver becomes more gentle with his or her inputs, the leaves grow plentiful, almost as if Mother Nature herself is showing appreciation for being so considerate.

Because this virtual vegetation can be picked up in the driver’s peripheral vision, attention need not be diverted from the road. At journey’s end, the gauge displays the trip’s stats -- miles covered, fuel used, etc. It may also display the driver’s long-term green driving habits.

Honda -- Eco Assist uses ‘red light-green light’ approach
Honda’s contribution comes in its new Insight hybrid. This driver feedback feature goes under the clumsy moniker of “Ecological Drive Assist System” but is thankfully shortened to Eco Assist. It works like this. The background color of the speedo changes to reflect how wasteful or otherwise the driver is being at that moment. Fuel-saving practices like smooth acceleration and braking make the dial glow, predictably, green. Somewhat less efficient driving makes the meter glow blue-green, while gas-guzzling aggressive starts and stops elicit a fully blue hue.

An economy scoring function provides extra information on current driving techniques, as well as feedback on long-term driving style. Coincidentally, the Honda system also has a green leaves graphic. When the ignition switch is turned off, the leaves in the top line of the display give a driving score for the just-completed cycle (startup to shutdown); a horizontal bar in the lower part of the display scores cumulative lifetime performance.

So that game of going faster seems to be turning into one of being greener. Both cars go on sale next spring, when the real leaves come out.

-- Colin Ryan

Video: Ford
Photo: Honda