A Model of the U.S. Start-stop Vehicle Market

Start-Stop vehicles, which shut off the engine at idle and restart the engine when the driver’s foot leaves the brake pedal or presses clutch, have been commercially available for several years and have achieved noticeable market penetration in Europe. However, they have only very recently become available in the United States. Given different vehicle preferences, traffic conditions, regulatory environment and fuel prices in the U.S. market, there have been questions about the viability of Start-Stop vehicles in that market. Hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles have all been introduced in the U.S., but none have achieved significant market penetration. Current Start-Stop vehicles offer 5 to 10 percent fuel savings at a far lower purchase price point than other powertrains. This paper describes research that was undertaken and a model developed to estimate the future U.S. market penetration of Start-Stop and hybrid-electric vehicles.