Ford to widen use of start-stop gas saver

DEARBORN, Mich., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. said Monday it would install a system that reduces idling on many of its cars, starting in 2012.

The system, known as start-stop, turns off an engine that is idling. To restart the engine, the driver either steps on the gas pedal or releases the brake, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Ford said the system is expected to increase fuel efficiency by 4 percent to 10 percent.

Start-stop systems are not new but they are unfamiliar to most Americans. They are more prevalent in Europe, especially among cars with manual transmissions, the newspaper said. In the United States, they appear mostly in gasoline-electric hybrids.

Company spokesman Richard Truett said the feature would be available for most Ford cars by 2015, but Ford had not yet decided whether or not to make the system standard or offer it as an option.