Large interest in "Test your eco-driving skills!" event in Brussels

The ‘eco-driving’ training sessions that the European auto industry association (ACEA) has organised during the European Union Sustainable Energy Week EUSEW 2008 in Brussels, in cooperation with ECODRIVEN, have attracted a lot of attention.

Almost 5% of the over 4000 EUSEW 2008 visitors have acquired first hand experience with eco-driving and learned more about the benefits of this fuel-saving concept. On the first day of the event, European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs took a course as well.

Two car-seat simulators enabled the participants to test their driving skills and learn how to make a better use of their car, reduce fuel consumption and consequently emit less CO2. Most of them took part in a small survey afterwards.

According to the results of the survey, the concept of eco-driving was new to 56% of the participants. Half of the other 44% had already put eco-driving elements into practice in their daily driving habits. Over 75% said they thought eco-driving can make a valuable contribution to reducing fuel consumption and hence CO2 emissions, and were determined to implement the concept into their driving style. Over 90% would inform others about the ‘easy enough’ eco-driving tips.

‘Eco-driving’ is easy to apply and has significant, long-term effects

* Shift into a higher gear early; maintain a steady speed at highest possible gear; look ahead and anticipate traffic flow; switch off the engine at short stops

* Check and adjust the tyre pressure regularly

* Make use of in-car fuel saving devices such as on-board computers and dynamic navigators to avoid congestion

* Get rid of surplus weight and unused roof racks

Highly cost-effective: Eco-driving training leads to a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 25 % after training, with a significant long-term effect of 7% under every-day driving conditions.

Reduction potential: The European Climate Change Programme calculated that the reduction potential of CO2 emissions from eco-driving would be in the range of 50 million tons of CO2-emissions in Europe by 2010. Other research also clearly indicates that eco-driving is a highly cost-effective way to reduce CO2 emissions. The independent research institute TNO estimates a negative cost to society (cost savings) of up to 128 euro per tonne CO2 saved.

Eco-driving: Easy to Apply, Impressive Results

The European automobile manufacturers are fully committed to reducing CO2 emissions from cars and have a sound track record of practical, innovative and affordable solutions.
The optimal solution to achieving further CO2 reductions from cars is to take an integrated approach, combining further developments in vehicle technology with an increased use of alternative fuels, intelligent traffic management, CO2-related taxation, and changes in driving style and car use.

For further information, visit acea.be.