Quote:
Originally Posted by Fedorov
My personal opinion is that having an m2 does not give anyone a free card to pollute the environment. I try to be as considerate as possible and not drive full throttle to every stop light. I also have the possibility to go by bicycle to work which I have to do every day all year long no matter the weather so that I can use my car with good conscience when I get feel for driving it.
I also don't bash those who don't fully agree with my personal philosophy because I feel for what I feel for and not everyone is the same. Only thing that I can't fully understand is people saying that they don't want to use auto start/stop because it feels weird or something...I can't think of anything more egoistic (car wise) than polluting the air while standing still because it is totally unnecessary and that it "feels weird/strange" is not an excuse in my opinion.
Peace out!  |
I think a lot of guys don't want the extra wear and tear associated with the constant start/stop cycling of the engine.
The other thing to question is just how much "extra" pollution is being created by not using start/stop systems. Modern cars are better than ever at minimizing pollution, so any benefits are minimal. Maybe collectively it will make a significant difference, but not so much when you start looking at the minority of drivers who actively turn off their start/stop systems.
Hell, I switched from a gasoline lawn mower to a battery electric lawn mower last year, so I far more than offset my carbon footprint for not using start/stop at all. The EPA says that one hour of lawn mower operation pollutes the air equal to 11 passengers cars being driven for 1 hour. So when you think about the small amount of time, on average, that your car engine is shut off using start/stop, then it's clear that there's a huge difference here.
If your main concern is the environment, then there are lots of other choices other than conventional gasoline engine cars. Plug-in hybrids are a much better choice. Or better yet--full electric.