Fiat and Microsoft want to help you get detailed environmental information on your vehicle's eco-impact as you drive around town. Their tool of choice? A USB drive which slips into a USB slot in your car.
The EcoDrive, unveiled at the 62nd International Motor Show in Frankfurt, is a subset of Blue&Me Nav, a graphical voice controlled navigation system being introduced by Fiat and Microsoft. Part of this system is a USB port - and that's where the EcoDrive comes in... as an option for that port. One plugs the drive into this port and "all necessary data relating to vehicle efficiency" is recorded to the drive.
You can then plug the drive into a PC and get a bunch of data on your car's environmental performance, including the CO2 emission level for each trip. Software analyzes your driving style and provides recommendations on how to lower your CO2 output while also saving some gas money.
Also set to be tied into this program is a community Web site where drivers can show off their results to show how the collective whole is impacting the environment. There's no announced American availability on this yet so for the time being you'll have to stick to your standard ways of better driving. Still, the technology looks awesome. And so did the flash animation.
via Everything USB
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written by weee, September 17, 2007
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