Fiat 'ecoDrive' claims to cut CO2 and fuel costs

This is one we missed from the Paris car show earlier this month. Car maker Fiat has launched software that will analyse a driver’s fuel consumption and emissions on each journey and then advise them how to improve their driving to create less environmental impact, and cut their fuel costs. A bit like a virtual back-seat driver, but without the annoying nagging and running commentary, if you like.

The ecoDrive software works with the Blue&Me onboard computer system developed by Fiat and Microsoft. The software is free to download from Fiat’s website. The motorist collects the data on their bad driving habits by plugging a prepared USB stick into the Blue&Me system in their car. After the journey this is then plugged back into the computer for the ecoDrive software to analyse.

The software has a series of tutorials to help motorists improve their ‘ecoIndex’ score and Fiat claims more eco-friendly drivers can expect to reduce their CO2 emissions by 15 per cent and cut their annual car fuel bill by up to €200.

Initially the software is available for the Fiat 500 and Punto models and will be extended to the rest of Fiat’s Blue&Me-equipped models in 2009.

More on ecoDrive from Fiat’s website here.