Obvious joke
written by Dave , October 18, 2006

Would be better if the car started nagging you audibly. "SLOW down! You want to get us killed? Your FATHER never drives like this! I'm going to have a heart attack and drop dead right HERE!"

Needs to be voiced by the actress who played George Kastanza's mother in Seinfeld to be super effective.

Honda already has this.
written by Ankle-Biter Dad , October 18, 2006

Not to show my age, but our Honda Odyssey minivan has this as part of their Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system. Available on some of the V6 models, it actually shows when the engine drops from 6 cylinders to three to improve fuel efficiency. Once you accelerate, the engine jumps back to six cylinders.

The only downside to this is staring at the dashboard for that tiny green light while trying not to rear end the driver ahead of you

old idea
written by Thomas , October 19, 2006

Sorry to burst the young guys bubble, but GM cars had a feature like this as early as the mid seventies !

It was an analog needle gauge, called fuel economy and it would respond directly to your use of the gas pedal !

There was one in our 1977 Chevrolet El Camino. Technically it was a needle gauge hooked up to the vaccuum of the engine. Simple yet effective.

Again, an old idea.
written by 3278 , October 19, 2006

The 1985 Pontiac Sunbird had what this, I suspect, essentially is: a "shift" light. When you went beyond the optimum throttle/gear efficiency ratio, the light went on. Back then, "eco" wasn't a catchphrase, but if they were making it today, I suspect they'd harness the power of PR to appear eco-friendly, too.

My 1986 BMW has something more useful: a realtime fuel economy gauge - like the '77 Camino, and a host of other cars - combined with an average fuel economy computer, as well as an average speed computer. This allows you to find the route which allows you to maintain the highest speed while achieving the highest fuel efficiency. I mean, if you're a total geek. Like me.

Toyota would do well to learn some lessons from the past, and simply build a little computing power into the machine that would aid you in finding optimum combinations of route, gearing, acceleration and deceleration, instead of just putting a light on the dash that says, "We care about the environment. Please buy our car." Or maybe I'm just being cynical.