During the EU Sustainable Energy Week, the financial and social benefits for driving in a sustainable and energy-efficient manner have been clearly shown by the EU Commissioner for Energy, G. Oettinger.
The EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) took place at the end of June in Brussels.
Amongst several proposals, the European Commission selected an eco-driving competition using an FP7 project: OpenCarData, a mobile phone application for eco-driving. The project is carried out under the supervision of the European GNSS Agency (GSA) that is managing EGNOS and Galileo – the European flagship programmes in satellite navigation.
Designed for use by fleets and individual consumers OpenCarData is simple to use. Once connected to the onboard computer of an average car (this can be done by anyone within seconds), it monitors in real time the journey, analysing the user’s driving style via a series of red, yellow and green signals. These enable the driver to keep an eye on what aspects of his/her or driving, such as sudden acceleration, lead to increased fuel consumption and to adjust accordingly. This allows also adapting the driving and translating it into measurable savings – in carbon dioxide emissions and in money.
From the 25th to 26 June, a two-day drive style competition between EUSEW attendees took place with the OpenCarData solution. Commissioner Oettinger, responsible for Energy, participated the challenge on Wednesday 26 afternoon.
Doss, the firm behind the technology, plotted out a track around the Berlaymont and Charlemagne building in Brussels and invited attendees to participate and navigate the track in a car that was put at their disposal.
On Tuesday, and Wednesday morning each test driver was accompanied by staff from OpenCarData who guided them along the track, provided an introduction to the technology and discussed driving style to raise awareness of the emission/fuel/cost benefits of efficient driving behaviour.
The Commissioner congratulates and delivers a prize to the top driver of the day for the Eco-driving contest lead by OpenCarData.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website.
More information
EGNOS Portal
GSA website
https://opencardata.com/landing.html
Video:
footage of Commissioner Oettinger: