Dishonest headline writing is as widespread as dishonest article writing. The latest example of dishonest headline writing being this one, headlining an article just published by Automotive News:
EPA Has Trashed Stop-Start Technology
EPA has done no such thing.
Stop-start “technology” is a compliance technology that was invented to deal with federal fuel economy and carbon dioxide diktats that force car companies to eke fractional mileage increases out of the vehicles they sell (in order to improve their Corporate Average Fuel Economy numbers) and at the same time reduce the quantity of carbon dioxide emanating from the tailpipe. The easiest way to do this is to shut off the engine since an engine that isn’t running burns no gas and “emits” no CO2. The problem is that an engine that isn’t running isn’t moving the car, so the engine has to be turned back on as often as it is turned off by the “technology.” This results in serial stop-starting. If you do a lot of stop and-go driving – as in heavy traffic – your vehicle’s engine may cycle through a dozen or more stop-start cycles.
Many people find this serial stop-starting annoying. One of the greatest annoyances being that when you get to where you’re going and park, you may find yourself restarting the engine while inadvertently trying to shut it off. It is instinctive, learned behavior to press the engine stop/start button that has largely replaced the ignition key in almost every new vehicle – in order to turn the engine off. But it may already be off, the “technology” having shut it off peremptorily, before you had a chance to do the same.
This makes it easy to forget to actually turn off the ignition – and the leave the vehicle parked but ready to be driven by anyone who gets behind the wheel. It feels and sounds like the car is off – because the engine isn’t running. So you get out and leave, assuming the car’s ignition is off – but it isn’t.
This happened to me just a few months ago. Or – rather – it happened to the delivery driver who brought me a new Nissan Murano to test drive (my review is here, if interested).
He left the vehicle, as usual, in front of my garage. I went outside, got in and pocketed the key fob he’d left. I noticed the radio and other accessories were on when I got behind the wheel and assumed he’d forgotten to shut off the ignition. I put it in Drive and drove downtown. Then I parked it and pressed the On/Off button, shutting off the engine – and hit the gym for an hour. When I returned to the Murano and tried to drive it home, engine would not start – because the driver had left the key fob for a different vehicle (his own) and now that the engine was really off, I was stranded.
This happened because the driver was fooled by the “technology” into assuming the ignition was actually off – because the engine had stopped running – when he parked the Murano at my house and left it there with the ignition still actually on.
Stop-start “technology” also entails having a second battery that acts as a kind of capacitor, to store extra power for all that stop-starting. This battery is buried deep in the vehicle’s guts – unlike the generally easy to find and remove 12V starter battery – and for this reason, everyone who owns a stop-start-equipped vehicle will eventually have to pay a shop to replace the second capacitor-battery.
The “technology” is also probably a contributor to more rapid wear and tear – not necessarily of the engine but of peripheral components such as the starter and alternator, which are both worked harder.
All of this for the sake of nothing-of-value to the vehicle’s owner in that the “gas savings” are at best 1 MPG overall and usually less than that. Never mind the cost of the annoyance – of the unpleasant sounds/feels of all that stopping-and-starting (the car companies have reduced the sounds/feels, but that is as beside the point as the mobster who broke your leg giving you a set of free crutches).
It is for the sake of compliance.
This circles back to the dishonest headline published by Automotive News. The car companies were never specifically forced to embed stop-start “technology” in new vehicles; but they are forced to comply. The “technology” is just one of several ways they came up up with to comply.
Now, the fact is that so long as they must comply, compliance “technology” such as stop-start is not going away. Trump’s dialing back of the mandatory MPG minimums from the no-longer-pending 50 MPG “standard” to about 35 MPG will not result in the “technology” going away. Keep in mind that stop-start “technology” started being embedded in ew vehicles a decade ago, in anticipation of the 35 MPG CAFE “standard” (as these federal requirements are styled).
So, don’t expect stop-start “technology” to disappear – at least not before the federal regs that force this and other compliance technologies into existence are disappeared.
. . .
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There is a video on YT of a company that bought an ASS car and a non ASS car. After just 10,000 km, the ASS car exhibited significant spalling of the crank bearings vs little spalling to the non ASS car.
That’s very interesting, t05. Do you happen to have the link? I knew the serial stop-staring shortened battery and starter life. I have long suspected it might also have a negative effect on the engine itself as well. Maybe it has to do with the thin oils that are specified in many modern engines.
Leave it to the government to come up with such an idiotic “safety” measure for vehicles. What does all that stop/starting do to the engine? Wouldn’t the constant, on/off wear down the engine more? Does the heater (or air conditioner) stay on when said vehicle is stopped (and engine now off) at a red light? The first time I drove a rental vehicle with one of these “features”, it was a trip and a half. Thank God my vehicle does not have such nonsense, and I have a real key to turn the ignition. For what that is worth.
Morning, Shadow!
I’ve yet to have anyone tell me they like “ASS.” This begs the question: Why are they pushing it on us? Well, because the government is pushing them to push it on us!
Mostly it wears the starter and the battery. Mostly. (the warmer the engine is, the better off it is).
But really it’s a solution to a non-problem that some bureaucrats (in their infinite wisdom) invented. Because leaving well enough alone doesn’t justify more bureaucracy and is therefore never an option.
Just wait till they put all of this technology in the tiny trucks Orange Hitler says we’ll be “allowed to have”! You’ll need a second truck to carry around all of the mandated BS technology….and the damned things’ll cost $40K.
Speaking of Orange Hitler [off topic], it’s getting SCARY out there! People are going to the deli and just disappearing without a trace or any notification to their family or anyone else. Go out for a burrito and a Corona…and never return; never be heard from again. Read of this one case where this guy was disappeared and his neighbors had to break into his house to rescue his unattended dogs to keep them from starving.
In another one, this mentally ill day laborer went to the store and was never heard from again; his family left wondering what happened to him (It took a reporter to confirm that “ICE” had picked him up- but no one knows of his whereabouts) and he is without his psycho meds.
“Heil Trump!”
The “disappearing” you are referring to involves a shallow mass grave or incinerator. It allegedly happened in South America.
These illegal aliens are criminals being removed, jailed, and given all the due process they are entitled to, i. e. A hearing to establish whether they are citizens.
If it gives them discomfort, then they shouldn’t be invading our country and trespassing here.
My only disagreements are that we should have a nation of private bounty hunters tracking them down, and they should be held in bondage until the cost of their apprehension, upkeep, and deportation is paid with interest.
I’m not a fan of “open borders” by any means….but to allow and even encourage people to come here and then do this, is psychotic. Yes, a few crimals may get scopped up, but believe me, ICE uses no discretion- they just scoop-up anyone who looks or sounds like they may be an “illegal”- the vast majority are just non-criminal day laborers or other workers; some, even citizens- including a few college professors! THAT is why there should be due process- you don’t just kidnap people and whisk them away sine judicio.
Be careful what you wish for or approve- as is often the case, what gets established as a routine measure for a specific purpose focused on a specific group, usually ends up becoming the norm and is practiced on everyone, including you or I- just like the supposed “anti-terrorism’ bullshit that now affects virtually every American…except actual “terrorists”, They stole the playbook from the Nazis…..
There is most assuredly due process, but if you’re here illegally the only due process is to get a hearing to see if you have permission to be here.
I belong here. I don’t give a darn if they’re professors or productive workers,I’ve known many illegals and they all have a sob story and they all feel entitled to the gringo’s country. F them.
I’m not necessarily disputing that “illegals” should be deported…just the way they are doing it- which ultimately will affect many innocent CITIZENS. Ultimately, that’s what this is all about; to establish a “papers please”[without the please]…to get us to all carry government IDs/passports and especially “Real ID”s.
I’m not entirely thrilled with it, but unfortunately the problem was allowed to get to a point that there aren’t any good options left. They went with crude but effective. The legal immigration system is a nightmarishly complicated mess, and needs to be overhauled completely from top to bottom to make it transparent and realistic, but no one ever talks about that. Open immigration is incompatible with the welfare state, but no one ever talks about that. Every other country has terms & conditions attached to immigration, & most are much stricter than ours, but no one ever talks about that. Most of these people aren’t exactly refugees, and there are international rules and conventions and agreementxx DC regarding refugees anyway but no one ever talks about that. You’re lucky to hear anyone make a distinction between legal and illegal immigration, or an acknowledgement that digital ID isn’t actually a solution to any aspect of the problem.
Everyone is arguing about stupid peripheral issues, instead of trying to go after the roots of the problem. And it shows.
’16 Mercedes Benz Metris service van. Every time i would start it the ASS disable button would be hit by me. It is really shiny from this. I noticed one day when my help was driving and had not polished the ASS button the van was running while the ASS parameters should have shut it down. Hmmm, interesting.
I scanned the van on an unrelated issue some time after that. There was a code for an oil pressure valve issue. The intrawebz search indicated this valve lowers the oil pressure at “idle” (idle being below 2500 RPM)[2500 IS IDLE?]. I assume to reduce parasitic drag and increase milage by, what, 1 gallon per lifetime?
The code will not clear and I do . Not. Care. The silly ASS button is still shiny though.
One thing that would actually increase mileage by a couple mpg would be to tell the Iowa corn farmers to get stuffed, and stop adding ethanol to gasoline. Just had to pay $20/gallon for deathanol free gas at the local Home Deepblow for my snowblower; f*ck all the politicians who grovel before the corn lobby (aka Archer Daniels Midland) every presidential election year and promise never to eliminate the ethanol mandate.
Here in northern Illinois, I buy 91 octane ethanol free gas for my boat, lawn tractor and snowblower. It is $3.99 a gallon. You have to look for it as most stations don’t sell it, but it can be found.
Please don’t pay that extortionate rate again! My three vehicles all run ethanol free and it’s usually a dollar more than the corn liquor, so about $3.50/gallon ’round these parts.
* pure-gas.org *
My immediate scream whenever I hear some piece of crappola on the radio or read about it (I do not watch TV, except maybe a ball game), is “Lying F@&*ks”. Happens with great frequency.
Can’t read the paywalled AutoNews article, so I cadged this from Google AI Overview:
‘You’re right, there’s a clash: the Trump EPA (led by Lee Zeldin) has targeted stop-start tech, calling it hated and minimally beneficial, even suggesting removing its regulatory credits, while the recent NHTSA CAFE proposal (December 2025) implicitly assumes its continued use, projecting significant automaker adoption (around 30% by 2031) to meet looser fuel economy goals. This creates an apparent policy conflict as NHTSA relies on it while EPA tries to phase it out for being annoying and costly.
‘EPA administrator Lee Zeldin stated everyone “hates” stop-start tech and the EPA is “fixing it.” The agency aims to remove incentives (credits) that encourage automakers to use it. Whereas NHTSA assumes about 30.7% of 2031 vehicles will use non-hybrid stop-start, despite EPA’s pushback.’
What’s wrong with this picture? Unelected ‘crats shouldn’t be designing our cars in the first place. The head of NHTSA is a frickin’ lawyer.
I’ve never owned an ASS or LKA car, and never intend to. My non-negotiable demand is that machines obey my instructions. Any kind of ‘smart’ algorithmically-controlled device — whether it’s a phone, a refrigerator, a washer, or a software defined vehicle — inflames my unquenchable ire, and is liable to be disabled by sledgehammer, gunshot or fire.
Gaze on my wrath, ye mighty, and despair.
In the 2018 Grand Cherokee both batteries are in a well under the front passenger seat. At 8 years it’s time to replace them, it isn’t going to be pleasant. The cost is another matter and there is no fudging the size, it has to be the exact group number.
Last time I checked aftermarket but quality battery set will be near $400 with me doing the replacement.
The start stop disable resets on shutdown, so that button push is next after starting the Jeep. I can get a module add on for about $200 to electronically do this for me.
F’ng madness.
ASS is an idea so silly that no one would have created it without arbitrary government mandates created to support the climate change grift narrative.
Akin to the Epstein files, someone runs those who run the government. It would be nice to know who they are so we know the manner the rest of us are being f-ed over.
The car car channel if i remember correctly on YouTube explains how start/ stop works on Toyota’s. If you thought it was simple his video will shock you.
I read somewhere (maybe here) that the only reason manufacturers put ASS on cars is because they get a “free” 0.5MPG added to the fuel economy score and that it really doesn’t do much of anything for most driving conditions. Of course I tried looking for the article and now can’t seem to get through the wall of mainstream articles telling me how wonderful this tech is, and that it really won’t do much to your starter, or kill your battery sooner, even though it will and does.
I recently got a 2018 Honda Civic without start stop, without a massive heads up display, and with a key and a gear shift, which I notice some new cars replacing with a dial. It’s a great little car. Also didn’t get turbo which is just something else to go wrong. 25000 miles too.
It sips gasoline.
It still has a bunch of “phone home” telematics, and a whole bunch of air bags, but you have the right idea.