Ford Announces New Gas-Saving Device

Ford has unveiled a SmartGauge dashboard system, which it says will help drivers improve their fuel economy by alerting them when they're practicing good driving habits.

The system will basically provide feedback to the driver, with different levels of information available, ranging from the basic "Journey" mode to the more detailed "Empower." The screen will display graphics that gauge engine performance and fuel efficiency, giving drivers more information that will help them stretch every gallon of gas even farther.

One of the issues Ford has had to deal with in developing the system is driver distraction. In earlier versions, the screen became too cluttered and required more of the driver's attention to read than was safe. Designers solved this by moving to a "leaf-based" readout. The screen displays more green leaves when the driver is saving fuel, making it easy to distinguish between fuel-wasteful and fuel-efficient driving. Don't believe us? Check out more images below.

The system will debut in two Ford hybrids, the 2010 Ford Fusion and 2010 Mercury Milan hybrids, which we wrote about earlier today.

Comments

It might be more effective if rather than displaying leaves, it displayed dollar bills.

Very cool. I'm thinking it will steal away many would-be Prius buyers.

"It might be more effective if rather than displaying leaves, it displayed dollar bills."

Hey, that'd sure as hell get my attention.

"It might be more effective if rather than displaying leaves, it displayed dollar bills."

LOL! I think it's a gimmicky but good idea.

I like the idea of showing leaves - or dollar bills for that matter, but overall this dash display is very cluttered and busy. It looks more like a video game than a real car's dashboard.

you can customize it to not show as much information.

Wow. They had these decades ago, in the form of little more than a vacuum gauge. BMW and other makes have been putting them in their cars forever. Nice of Ford to play catchup, but making it into a video game-esque distraction.

Skinner, Ford had a vacuum actuated upshift indicator included on the instrument cluster in several of their models beginning in the early 80's.

How stupid are we now?

I mean, come on, we all should know what to do to save gas. And people are just ignorant enough if they don't know.