Should you turn off the engine when parking for a short time? Does it consume fuel?

发布时间：2022年03月14日 14:54

Nowadays, more and more families are using cars, and civilized driving and parking are closely tied to our daily lives. However, certain misconceptions and improper parking habits during driving not only lead to unnecessary waste but also cause environmental pollution. Today, Mr. Qingjie is going to share with you some fuel-saving tips from experienced drivers. Is it true that repeated engine starts consume more fuel than idling at a stop? No! Then, do we really need to turn off the engine for short stops? When stopping at an intersection and waiting to proceed, you should judge the duration of your stop based on the traffic light timer. If your stop lasts longer than one minute, you should turn off the engine. Generally speaking, the fuel consumed by a small car idling is actually greater than the fuel used when restarting the engine.

　　Is repeated engine starting more fuel-consuming than idling and stopping? No! But do you need to turn off the engine during brief stops? When stopping at an intersection and waiting for the traffic light to change, you should estimate the duration of your stop based on the timer displayed on the traffic signal. If your stop lasts longer than one minute, you should turn off the engine. Generally, a small car consumes more fuel while idling than it does when restarting the engine. Data from environmental experts.

　　Take a 2.0-liter car as an example: each engine restart consumes 1 milliliter of fuel. Meanwhile, idling for just 5 seconds uses 1.1 milliliters of gasoline; idling for 50 seconds consumes 11 milliliters, and idling for one hour consumes 0.8 liters of gasoline. When a vehicle is parked but left running without being turned off, it remains in idle mode. Experimental results show that, taking 100,000 1.6-liter automatic sedans as an example, if each vehicle reduces its idle time by just one minute per day, annual fuel consumption could be reduced by more than 400,000 liters. According to experiments conducted by the Beijing Transportation Industry Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Center, if all drivers in Beijing adopt eco-driving practices, annual emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides could be reduced by 1.09 million tons and 8.79 million tons, respectively, while saving 340,000 tons of gasoline—demonstrating significant potential for energy conservation and emission reduction.

　　Does turning off the engine when parking cause damage to your vehicle? Is that really true? Not necessarily—let’s take a look at what the experts have to say. According to a senior engineer from the Automotive Engineering Department at Tsinghua University, frequent stopping and starting can indeed put some wear and tear on both the engine and the battery. However, these findings are based on test conditions specified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which simulate extremely demanding driving scenarios. For everyday, typical car users, this kind of wear and tear is negligible. After all, most ordinary consumers replace their cars long before the engine reaches its designed lifespan.

　　Environmental experts point out that the engines of typical passenger cars usually have a lifespan of more than 50,000 starts. Given the frequency with which most ordinary family cars are parked and their engines turned off, even after 10 years of use, the number of starts will still fall far short of the engine’s 50,000-start lifespan. Therefore, properly parking and turning off the engine will not harm the vehicle’s engine or battery.

　　Correct advice

　　If you're parked for more than one minute, try to turn off the engine and wait.

　　This is both fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly.

　　Experienced driver’s fuel-saving driving tips

　　Tips for fuel-efficient driving in the city

　　Turn off the engine when parking.

　　Don't slam on the accelerator.

　　Reduce vehicle weight

　　Drive at a steady speed—don't exceed the limit.

　　Anticipate more, brake less.

　　Open fewer windows, don't modify.

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