Driving Green's Going To Get Easier

16 Years Ago CatRambo 0 541 Views

A new smart phone application, Virtual Test Drive, from will allow a phone to track the user's driving patterns in order to help them improve their mileage. The application uses the phone's GPS chip in order to track factors like when a user starts and stops driving, their customary speed, and the length of the the trips they take. The application requires no manual data input from the user.

When logging into the Virtual Test Drive site, the user is shown routes for previous trips with factors such as hills, acceleration points, and distance, along with information regarding how several types of plug-in car would have performed.

Knowing his or her driving patterns can help a driver determine the car that's best for them in terms of range, efficiency, cost and mileage, letting them pick from the variety of green cars available, as well as helping them choose between leasing and buying. The company believes that a lack of consumer information about electric and hybrid vehicles is slowing the adoption of such vehicles, and seeks to supply that need. Three quarters of car shoppers research their vehicle on the web before buying, and VEVco hopes to tap into that market.

Developed at UC Berkley and founded by Daniel M. Kammen, Laura Schewel, and Gopal Vaswani, the company has already garnered awards such as the Grand Prize in the Unversity of California Big Ideas Competition. and the DOW Sustainable Student Innovation Prize.

VEVco will release the beta version of the application this August, and intends to have a commercial version this November. The company is looking for beta testers with iPhones to test the app; email [email]beta@vevdrive.com[/email] to apply.

Dani AI

Generated 10 Months Ago

As noted, phone-based trip logging can turn raw GPS traces into practical guidance for choosing a greener car. 's caution about "too much data" is apt — the value is in tight, decision-ready summaries rather than long, noisy traces. The short guide below lists the most useful metrics, simple collection checks to improve accuracy, and clear interpretation rules that keep analysis actionable.

Core metrics to extract:

Typical daily distance (median and mean) — indicates routine charging or fueling needs.
95th-percentile single-trip distance — captures occasional long trips that often set the required range.
Proportion of highway vs. city miles and sustained speeds — sustained high speeds increase consumption markedly.
Cumulative elevation gain and steep segments — climbs consume significantly more energy than flat miles.
Stop-and-go percentage and idle time — affects regen opportunities and overall efficiency.
Charging opportunity windows (home, work, frequent public stops) — availability changes which vehicle types are practical.

Data collection and troubleshooting checklist:

Continuous/background location and background activity avoid missed or split trips.
A fixed mount and a sufficiently frequent sampling interval improve acceleration and hill detection.
Log a representative span (at least 1–2 weeks, including weekends) and include an occasional long trip.
Calibrate logged distance against the vehicle odometer or a short fuel/energy record to correct bias.
Exportable formats (GPX/CSV) allow independent checks; track battery impact as part of testing.

Interpretation notes:

Reduce output to three headline numbers — typical daily energy need, 95th-percentile trip, and longest single trip without charging — then compare those to candidate vehicles' real-world ranges with a conservative buffer for speed, hills, and HVAC loads. Favor tools that support local export or anonymization to handle privacy concerns. This approach turns high-volume logs into a clear buying signal instead of noise.

middleorder 0 Newbie Poster

16 Years Ago

very interesting. It was ver helpful with my research. mI would like to vounteer to become part of the test but I dont have an iphone. Thanks very much though. I believe the information your test gathers will prove useful, one way or another. but just remember too much knowledge couple with too much data may confuse thinbgs further. However I beleieve if you dont ask you sont get. that is the way of things, although sometimes you dont know what you are going to get.

Reply to this topic

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.