Audi to Help Drivers Catch All Green Lights, All the Time

Traffic light information system will help save millions of gallons of fuel.

The way you drive your car has a big impact on the amount of fuel it burns. Race towards a traffic light and slam on the brakes as it turns red is a dumb way to waste energy. But how are you expected to know the traffic patterns? Fair question and one Audi is attempting to answer with its traffic light recognition technology. A prototype system was recently tested with an Audi A6 in Las Vegas and the results are mighty impressive.

By communicating with local traffic signals via a central traffic computer, the Audi Online traffic light information system predicts when lights will change and display the speed the driver needs to maintain in order to catch the green light at the upcoming intersection. When waiting at a red light, the system will show the remaining time before the light turns green, and for models equipped with Start/Stop, it will automatically start the engine five seconds before the light turns green, so the driver can get ready to drive. Audi claims around 900 million liters of fuel would be saved if the system was deployed in Germany and reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent.

The system is “production ready” and could be integrated into any Audi model. A market launch is currently the subject of intense analysis in the United States,” according to the automaker.

Source:CarBuzz.com