Drivers Have No Idea How Much Fuel an Idling Engine Uses
We don't think much about engine idling especially when rushing on our daily commutes. But Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained has come to save the day and answer that question for us regardless.
Why? Might you ask. Well, because engine idling might actually be very fuel consuming. Fenske explains this much better.
"How much fuel does an idling engine use? After how long will an idling engine use more fuel than simply shutting the engine off, and then restarting it? It turns out, most Americans have no idea, as the journal of Energy Policy interviewed 1,300 US drivers, and the average time guessed was 3.6 minutes! 3.6 minutes worth of engine idling fuel required to simply start up an engine!" says the YouTuber's video description.
"Well, let's put the myths to rest and look at actual data, published in the journal of SAE. Researchers took two identical engines and measured their idle fuel consumption, how much fuel they required to start up, and then spent time conducting real-world driving tests to see if engine start-stop systems actually save fuel. Check out the video to see the results!"
Of course, he does not write the final answer, and we won't tell you either. You have to watch Fenske's clear and illustrated explanation to find out just how much fuel an idling engine uses.