Johnson Controls has been selected by the Alliance to Save Energy to receive the Star of Energy Efficiency Chairman’s Award in recognition of its innovative start-stop battery technology.
“We are honored to receive this award and recognition for our start-stop battery technology, which significantly saves fuel, reduces environmental impact and ultimately saves consumers money over the life of their vehicle,” said Kim Metcalf-Kupres, vice president and chief marketing officer, Johnson Controls.
Start-stop technology enables a vehicle’s engine to shut off during stops, such as red lights or traffic jams. Accessories such as lights, air conditioning and other functions continue to operate off of stored battery power. When the driver lifts the foot off the brake, the engine seamlessly restarts and is ready to move the vehicle.
Start-stop technology, which is simpler and lower-cost than hybrid or electric vehicles and can improve fuel efficiency by up to 5 percent, has already been implemented in 35 million vehicles around the world, saving around 660 million gallons of fuel while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 5.9 million metric tons per year.
By 2020, Johnson Controls predicts 50 percent of all new vehicles in the U.S. will have start-stop technology.
“Over the next five years, as we see adoption numbers go up, we are committing more than $780 million in battery capacity across the globe to support that growth,” said Metcalf-Kupres.
