Ford to install auto start-stop tech in non-hybrids starting 2012

On Monday, Ford Motor Co. announced that it plans to include a fuel-saving technology used in its gas-electric hybrids in other vehicles.

The technology is common to other companies' hybrids as well. When stopped at a stop light, a hybrid's engine is turned off, to save fuel. Ford plans to include its Auto Start-Stop technology in a wider range of vehicles sold in North America, beginning in 2012.

In fact, the idea of turning off a car's engine at a stop light was once suggested as a manual way for drivers to save fuel. A driver could manually turn off his engine, then restart it when the light changed. The advent of technology to automatically stop and restart an engine has proven much more efficient.

Ford says the technology will improve fuel economy by at least 4 percent, without, as a manual system would require, needing the driver to do anything. When the engine is off, a dashboard light confirms it, but none of the accessories such as heat or air conditioning are affected.

Eventually, Ford plans to install the technology in vehicles sold worldwide.