Eco Driving Device Samples for Students †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Eco-Driving Device. Answer: Introduction Eco driving can be defined as a way or method of driving that reduces the cost and amount of fuel utilized by the vehicles which leads to reduction of the harmful atmospheric gases such as CO2 emitted by vehicles (Gerlagh, 2015). Eco-driving is made possible by use of eco-driving devices or tools that enables drivers to monitor several things while driving. These devices enable drivers to monitor the vehicles speed, deteriorating fuel amount, time spent as well as recording the driving pattern of a vehicle (Barkenbus, 2010). To explain how eco-driving devices work, their advantages and disadvantages, we are going to analyze one the eco-driving tools currently in use referred to Ruptela (Robin Smit, 2010). This is an eco-driving tool that provides various functionalities to the vehicle drivers and which support eco-driving strategy. How Eco-Driving Device Works (Ruptela) Ruptela is an eco-drive panel which was developed and manufactured in order to monitor the behavior of a driver in real-time basis. With this eco-drive device, the driver is notified through sound or light indicators in the case where his driving patterns causes wastage of fuel or even when the vehicle is being depreciated as a result of the drivers actions. This device sends the driving information to a monitoring and control system which is on a real-time basis. The control system analyses the driving pattern of the driver and evaluates the drivers performance depending on his driving behaviors. With this device it is possible to set the Eco driving parameters or even configure the device to automatically detect the parameters at the ECO driving setting section. All these parameters are determined based on the type of the vehicle. For instance, for a light vehicle the ECO driving parameters might be different from the truck. Therefore, each vehicle is assigned its appropriate ECO d riving parameters. The Eco-drive panel (Ruptela) can be diagrammatically shown below. How Eco-Driving Device is used The above discussed device comes with various functionalities that allows the driver to monitor and control his driving patterns in order to conserve fuel as well as the environment. Some of these functionalities are discussed below. Monitor vehicle tyre pressure. With the use of the eco-drive panel, it is possible for a driver to be able to monitor the amount of pressure in vehicle tyres (Dzenisiuk, 2011). The Panel or device displays the amount of pressure in each tyre of the vehicle thus enabling the driver to maintain the required amount at all-time which leads to an environmental friendly drive. In case of low pressure, the device will display an alert message either using sound or light indicator and this will notify the driver that the pressure is not as it should be. Fuel Consumption Monitoring The devices display the average fuel consumption as well as the actual fuel used. This provides the driver with important information or feedback as the driver will be able to monitor and control the driving pattern depending on the displayed fuel information. In case of high or very fuel consumption the device will generate an alert indicator displayed on the panel (Jean-Charles Pandazis, 2015). Weight With an Eco-driving panel in place, it is easier to monitor and control the weight carried by that particular vehicle. This is because weight affects the amount of fuel consumed by the vehicle. Thus the eco-driving panel displays the actual weight of the vehicle (Commission:, 2014). Speed The Eco-drive panel monitors the vehicles speed. If the speed is higher than the expected speed, an alert indicator is generated and relayed to the panel for driver to see. This help minimizes the environmental hazards that comes with over speeding. Advantages of Eco-Driving Devices. The following are some of the advantages of using Eco-Driving tools for a friendly environmental drive. Reduced Emissions of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. Eco-driving devices monitors and controls the driving pattern of a vehicle which includes fuel consumption that emits gases such as CO2 to the atmosphere which affect the environment. With Eco-Drive Panel fuel consumption will be reduced which in turn will reduce the amount of gases emitted in to the atmosphere. Reduced Cost With the use of Eco-driving devices, there will be low consumption of fuel as a result of careless driving and thus a reduction of cost incurred in fueling vehicles. Proper Vehicle Maintenance Since the devices monitors every aspect of the vehicles functionality, Eco-Driving devices enhances proper maintenance of vehicles since on instances of abnormal driving patterns the driver is notified and is able to control the situation. Improved Road safety and Reduced Accidents The use of Eco-Driving devices ensures that the vehicles speed does not exceed the normal one and this facilitates improved safety and reduced accidents associated with high speeds (Commission, 2017). Disadvantages of Eco-Driving Devices. The following are some of the disadvantages of eco-driving devices. According to (Brooks, 2010) who carried out a research on some of disadvantages of Eco-Driving devices, it was found that these devices have a sickening effect especially to old people compared to young drivers. Another limitation of these devices is most of these devices are only able to predict a given routes emission but do not take into account the traffic information on a real time basis (MCNABOLA, 2012). Use of Eco-Driving devices may increase the rate of overtaking since the device limits the amount of speed at which the vehicle should move with, other vehicles with no such devices might attempt to overtake these vehicles, thus resulting to high emission of gases or even accidents (MCNABOLA, 2012). Another thing about Eco-Driving Devices is that it leads to vehicles taking longer time to reach to their destination since you cannot accelerate beyond a given speed limit even if the road is clear as was found by (Smit, 2009). Conclusion Generally, the advantages of using Eco-Driving Devices carries a lot of weight as compared to the disadvantages. The devices enhance such a friendly environment free from greenhouse gases making it more conducive to all living creatures. Also with these devices in place accidents are reduced, road safety is maintained and a vehicle is guaranteed a longer life and quality maintenance as explained by (Tulusan, 2013). All these are as a result of the development of ICT which has allowed customization based on various drivers activities, such as driver's behaviour in the traffic environment. The high efficiency and ease of application of Eco-Driving tools and sensor technologies in measuring the effectiveness of eco-driving can be achieved with the use of these devices. Also the fact that the devices provide Real-time feedback enables a thorough evaluation of driving behaviour to be carried out. References Anon., n.d. Barkenbus, J., 2010. Eco-Driving: An Overlooked Climate Change Initiative. Energy Policy, pp. 762-769. Brooks, J. O. G. R. R. C. M. C. K. N. D. A. R. L. e. a., 2010. Simulator sickness uring driving simulation studies.. Accident Analysis and Prevention , pp. 788-796. Commission:, E., 2014. A Strategy for Reducing Heavy Duty Vehicles Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions,Duty Vehicles Fuel Consumption and CO2 Emissions, Brussels:. Commission, E., 2017. Report on CO2 emissions from and fuel consumption of new heavy-duty vehicles as proposed by European Parliament Council, Brussels: Retrieved on 28th July 2017 https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/com20170279-regulation-hdv.pdf. Dzenisiuk, K., 2011. Eco-Driving Changing truck driver behavior to achieve long-term sustainability results. Gerlagh, R. e. a., 2015. Fiscal policy and CO2 emissions of new passenger cars in the EU, CPB. p. 302. Jean-Charles Pandazis, A. W., 2015. Study of Intelligent Transport Systems for reducing CO2 emissions for passenger cars, Brussels: ERTICO partners . MCNABOLA, A. ., 2012. A critical review of Eco-Driving and CO2 Emmissions Modelling to facillitate Eco-routing, s.l.: s.n. Robin Smit, G. R. S., 2010. Assessing the Impacts of Ecodriving on Fuel Consumption and Emissions for the Australian Situation. 59 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane: PAEHolmes, 59 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane, Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Psychological Studies, Monash University, Gippsland Campus. Smit, R. D. H. M. L., 2009. Road Traffic Emission and Fuel Consumption Modelling Trends, New Developments and Future Challenges, in Traffic Related Air Pollution and Internal Combustion Engines, U.S.A.: Demidov, S. and Bonnet, J. (Eds.), Nova Publishers, U.S.A.,. Tulusan, J., 2013. Combining ICT with Eco-driving Concepts to Improve Corporate Car Drivers Fuel Efficiency. In: Combining ICT with Eco-driving Concepts to Improve Corporate Car Drivers Fuel Efficiency. Zurich: School of Economics, Social Sciences and Law. University of St. Gallen, pp. 25-28.