Automatic for the people

By G.F. | SEATTLE

DRIVERS' three most fuel-wasting traits, say the boffins at Automatic, are aggressive acceleration, rapid braking and driving faster than 70mph (110kph). The start-up wants to help motorists save petrol with a device that plugs into a car's standard diagnostic port and transfers data continuously over a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone app.

Rather than distract motorists with displays while they are behind the wheel, transgressions prompt the Link to bleep a tone corresponding to the offending action. After a trip, a driver can examine the route taken and the actual cost and quantity of petrol consumed. For most drivers, this may be the first feedback on their habits they get since securing a driving licence, says Ljuba Miljkovic, in charge of Automatic's design and user experience. They are clearly keen on it: the first batch of Links, which will be shipped in May, is sold out.

The device is not intended for hypermilers, super-vigilant drivers who dawdle on motorways, coast downhill and enjoy the benefit of drafting behind articulated lorries. Rather, Automatic says its system is for the average person, typically a commuter, who spends about $2,700 per year on petrol. Automatic's boss and co-founder, Thejo Kote, says that small changes in driving style can lead to 30% efficiency gains. The Environmental Protection Agency backs him up: its fuel-efficiency website states that the three transgressions identified by Automatic mean drivers pay 15% to 50% more for petrol than they ought to. Decreasing fuel consumption by 5% would pay for the cost of the device in a matter of months.

In 1990 the Clean Air Act was amended to require carmakers to provide a number of engine air sensors to monitor emissions. The computer that manages the sensors provides the Link's data, which it taps by plugging into the OBD-II (onboard diagnostics) port that every American car and light truck (read: SUV) manufactured since 1996 must also have. An industry already exists to make consumer-oriented OBD-II gizmos—one may find plenty on Amazon and petrolhead sites—but these are aimed at obsessive car-nuts.

Automatic's cloud servers also store the daily price of petrol at nearly every filling station in America. It licenses these data from a firm which compiles them for oil futures traders. Automatic can read the model of car its Link is installed in, so it knows whether to show the price of petrol or diesel. It also deciphers the mysterious "check engine" indicator on the dashboard, which may light up for any number of reasons, including something as simple as "the petrol cap isn't firmly tightened". The right information can avert a trip to the shop and the charges that entails.

For now, though, Automatic focuses on driving behaviour. The device could, in principle, tell drivers of cars produced from about 2009 that their tyres are underinflated (another petrol-guzzler) or offer clever cruise control (a consistent speed cuts fuel consumption). But the firm has opted for simplicity. Too much bleeping may, after all, drive drivers mad.