New Fiat monitors your emissions

Fiat has launched a new system that allows drivers to gain better insight into how their driving style influences their consumption and emission of pollutants and promotes 'eco-responsible" driving. Fiat says it is proud to have the lowest average CO2 emissions of any major car manufacturer in Europe. In fact, 23 per cent of Fiats sold in the EU in 2007 had CO2 emissions below 120g/km and 67 per cent had emissions below 140g/km. Fiat was also the first manufacturer to meet the EU"s 2008 voluntary target for new car emissions, a standard which few other manufacturers have yet to achieve. Fiat"s new EcoDrive system is a new tool from Fiat that makes it easy for drivers to reduce their CO2 output. It works thanks to the Blue&Me system found in most new Fiats. Plugging a USB key into the Blue& Me port allows EcoDrive to record information about a motorist"s driving style. You then just plug this USB into your computer to see how you performed and how you can improve and become a more efficient driver. Fiat claims that EcoDrivers can expect to make improvements of up to 10 per cent to 15 per cent in their driving efficiency. This means reductions of 10-15 per cent in their CO2 emissions, and significant savings on annual fuel bills. Fiat claims this technology isn"t just about individual gain - it"s also about a collective spirit. The unique online community, EcoVille, will be populated by all of Fiat"s EcoDrivers around the world and will show how much CO2 they are all saving together. The system will be available to download and install from www.fiat.com/ecodrive free of charge in October for the Fiat 500 and the Grande Punto. In 2009 this release will be extended to the rest of the Fiat models equipped with Blue&Me. The system will be open to testing and feedback from users in order to make the application even more useful in the future. In 2009, this will be extended across the Fiat range.