A University of Eindhoven researcher has teamed up with Ford to develop software that improves the fuel efficiency of automobiles. "By adding a piece of software and a simple cable, cars can save 2,6% of fuel consumption", explains the scientist John Kessel.

This software simply switchs the battery-charging dynamo off when it is inefficient for the engine to power it, and back on when it is more efficient for the engine to
do so. Many hybrid vehicles already use this strategy.

All vehicles equipped with a engine computer can implement the solution. For Kessel, there are still concerns about the extent to which car batteries would be degraded by the software.

But what is 2,6% ? For you, it's about a few tens of dollars or euros. But for the planet ... a quick calculation ... the world consumes 80 millions barrels a year. At 159 litres by barrel, we get 13 billions liters of oil. If we remove the usage of kerozene or fuel oil, we can consider that the half leaves on the roads. And then 2,6% represents 170 millions of litres a year!