Nissan's ECO Pedal drives you to fuel efficiency

Nissan Motor Company on Monday announced a new system that calculates the most fuel efficient rate of acceleration and pushes the gas pedal back against the driver's lead foot, according to the Associated Press. This new system, dubbed "ECO Pedal," will be available next year and, according to Nissan, can help drivers improve fuel efficiency by 5 to 10 percent, according to AP story.

If you're thinking what we're thinking, that the ECO Pedal has potential to compromise safety in the name of fuel efficiency, you'll be glad to know that Nissan is giving the system an off switch, according to the AP story.

[streamline35]

That's a great idea. Driving aides that indicate how you are/should be driving really can help with fuel economy. The example I'm thinking of is the LCD in the prius, that shows you your instantaneous and average fuel economy. Just having that there within sight is a great visual demonstration to why slow and steady acceleration/breaking help fuel economy so much.
As far as safety goes, I've never been in, seen, or heard of a situation where someone avoided an accident by accelerating (and I mean split second hit-the-gas-to-avoid, not just merging or getting out of someone's way on the freeway). I'm sure the pressure the pedal exerts won't by anything that can't be easily overcome by a little stomp on the pedal.

[rwilson]

I also think it's a good idea. I've also changed my driving habits and use the slow startup and rarely hit the pedal hard. However, I have been in situations where I've needed to "hit the pedal" to avoid an accident or fast moving vehicles when entering a freeway.

[Palscience]

its a great Idea to control people's speed, but I was wondering Is it possible to disable the system?

[Palscience]

its a great Idea to control people's speed, but I was wondering Is it possible to disable the system?

[bl3count]

Safety was part of the idea. Having to divert your eyes from the road to check your miles per gallon is a distraction, and heads up displays are better suited to aircraft where there really isn't that much going on in the air around you. The pedal provides you with information without your having to look away. The 'off' switch would make it similar to the economy mode that most automatic transmissions have, so you can disable it when you're in a rush. I'm guessing it's also more for the Altima hybrid crowd than Z drivers (the Z guys get a haptic tachometer that lets them know when to shift without looking away from the road, even when the stereo's drowning out engine noise).

[bl3count]

For some reason there seem to be multiple articles here, my last comment assumed that my other comments would show up here. Anyway this concept was part of my Cal Poly senior project in 2004.