Broken5hift

iPhone App Shifts Hypermiling Up to iPermiling | Autopia from Wired.com



Thanks to Hunter Research and Technology, budding hypermilers can become iPermilers with an iPhone app that costs less than three gallons of gas. GreenMeter uses the iPhone's built-in accelerometer to tell drivers, in real time, how much their lead-footed ways are costing them in carbon emissions and fuel economy.

Hunter Research and Technology is led by Dr. Craig Hunter, an experienced mechanical and aerospace engineer who's also a pretty good software developer. His new greenMeter app builds upon the gMeter app that works like a poor man's dynamometer. Unlike other performance meter apps we've told you about, the greenMeter is a dyno that'll save you some dino juice.

Since it would be beyond dangerous to play with this thing while driving, part of the fun of the greenMeter is bench-testing the effects of acceleration, aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance on fuel economy and emissions. "You can learn from greenMeter before you even get in the car," Hunter says. "Then implement your knowledge on the road, by choosing an efficient cruising speed and using the built-in g meter to limit acceleration while you drive."

Or if you're a Saudi prince or ExxonMobil shareholder, you can cheer as the greenMeter shows you're using a barrel of oil an hour once your Bentley hits 100 mph.

Don't expect to hop in your car and turn on the greenMeter. You've gotta get a little data together beforehand, including vehicle weight, engine efficiency, current weather conditions, rolling resistance and your car's drag coefficient. Once that's all entered, you've got to balance your iPhone (or iPod Touch) on a sturdy, level part of your car's dashboard or console to recalibrate the accelerometer. We probably shouldn't have to say this, but don't do this while driving. In fact, once it's set up, don't look at any of the numbers while driving. As Hunter says on his website, the colors on the screen will be all the information you need to know.

"Red is bad," he says. Purple and blue aren't much better.

Having spent a few hours playing with the greenMeter (and, we'll admit, almost running over a neighbor and his Corgi, stupidly trying to read the thing while driving down the street), we think it's pretty cool. Though it was a little tough finding out the drag coefficient for our car and the rolling resistance of our tires, it was fun sitting at home practicing finding the "sweet spot" for efficiently accelerating onto the highway without getting squashed by a Peterbilt.

At least one of our friends will be particularly glad to see we've downloaded the greenMeter. For years he took it upon himself to tell us when we're accelerating too fast, usually by telling us to pull over because he's going to be ill. Now, armed with a greenMeter, he can tell us we must slow down because our carbon footprint has increased to three tons per thousand miles.

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SOT - .... I dunno, i wasnt really paying attention....

FastSpecV

it's a phone!

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Vissionary

Don't call it a phone

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SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

Evil_Merlin

I wonder why the greenies don't realize the iPhone was not carbon cheap to build. And you charge the fucking thing every 10 hours, using more electricity made by those horrible plants...

I fucking hate greenies.

hozay09

I love this phone

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BTR

i love mah red won

tjf

lol @ iphones slowly turning into Skynet

scutzi128

lol @ skynet....how would you find rolling resistance, drag and drivetrain loss for your car?

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XBL & PSN GT: Bison Lover

BoostinChick

...and the lots of other things w/o it plugging into your OBD II port. How "accurate" is this?

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