PRAISE THE LORD.
This is the most idiotic product of government regulation in the last decade (and that's saying something).
The technology shuts off the engine every time your vehicle stops in traffic or at a red light/stop sign.
The average driver might save $1,000 over a decade of using the vehicle if they live in an urban area with frequent stops, but Enhanced Flooded Batteries and heavy-duty starters also cost more, meaning maintenance swallows up much or all of their savings.
(They also have to put up with the psychological torture of having their car turn off and on every five seconds.)
Here's YouTuber Scotty Kilmar explaining in his unique style why this tech is maddening. 👇
New vehicles are not "required" to have such systems, but Swamp bureaucrats implemented incentives for automakers to create something that customers hate, all in the name of saving the planet [read: padding their wallets].
In addition to the knuckleheads in Congress, two agencies are primarily responsible for this stupidity:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which oversees Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees greenhouse gas regulations.
The logic for these regulations goes back to the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. Even though we have more oil than ever now, back then, politicians were worried that the stupid peasants (that's you and me) would use up all our oil reserves in a crisis.
If they imposed taxes and rules on the peasantry, however, the peasants would get angry.
Instead, our ruling elite decided to weaponize the system and get automakers hooked on a government "credit" scheme where businesses would be financially penalized for not complying.
For example, in 2007, Congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which tightened CAFE standards with a new target of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. This forced automakers to figure out how to make vehicles that got that kind of mileage, even if the market demand was not there.
Start/stop tech was just one attempt to meet the government's demands (a quarter of all GM models had start/stop tech by 2020, and almost 40% of all Ford models had them by 2018).
A revolving door of such bills and regulations has made modern cars complex, expensive, buggy, and annoying: A living example of the absolute mess created by government intervention.
The reversal of this regulation might unite America in ways we thought weren't possible anymore!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
