Skip to main content

The challenges of start-stop technology

According to automotive technology supplier Dayco, the number of vehicles featuring start-stop technology will continue to rise over the next few years. The company says that it is only by incorporating such a function into a number of models in each range, that vehicle manufacturers will be able to reduce their fleet average emission levels and achieve the targets that EU legislation demands. Dayco, in alliance with Peugeot/Citroën, has developed a starter/alternator that has an auxiliary belt system w
September 9, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
According to automotive technology supplier Dayco, the number of vehicles featuring start-stop technology will continue to rise over the next few years.  The company says that it is only by incorporating such a function into a number of models in each range, that vehicle manufacturers will be able to reduce their fleet average emission levels and achieve the targets that EU legislation demands.

Dayco, in alliance with Peugeot/Citroën, has developed a starter/alternator that has an auxiliary belt system with the strength to start and restart the engine instantly when the vehicle needs to pull away, but is no wider than a standard auxiliary belt. In contrast to a conventional belt system, the patented Dayco self tensioning system (STS) maintains a balanced tension on both sides of the belt in relation to the starter/alternator drive pulley. Instead of having a tensioner on just one side of the belt system, the tensioning device connects both sides of the starter/alternator belt system.

The Dayco STS is designed to create a balance of forces between the two sides at all times, which enables the starter/alternator to seamlessly switch between its starting and charging modes to allow the vehicle’s start-stop system to function to its full potential.

The major development of this self-balancing device is the rigid connection of its pulleys, which allows it to maintain the correct belt tension irrespective of the direction of the load.

Related Content

  • Measuring alertness to avert drowsy driver incidents
    December 21, 2015
    Falling asleep at the wheel is the primary cause in thousands of deaths on American and other roads, with truck drivers the most at-risk group. David Crawford investigates measures to counter drowsy driving.
  • Machine vision develops closer traffic ties
    January 11, 2013
    Specifiers and buyers of camera technology in the transportation sector know what they need and are seeking innovative solutions. Over the following pages, Jason Barnes examines the latest developments with experts on machine vision technology. Transplanting the very high-performance camera technology used in machine vision from tightly controlled production management environments into those where highly variable conditions are common requires some careful thinking and not a little additional effort. Mach
  • In-vehicle automation of safety compliance and other traffic violations
    January 24, 2012
    David Crawford explores new initiatives in enforcement. Achieving the EU’s new road safety target of reducing road traffic deaths by 50 per cent by 2020 depends on removing legal and institutional barriers to the deployment of new enforcement technologies, stresses Jan Malenstein. The senior ITS Adviser to Dutch National Police Agency the KLPD, and a European-level spokesperson on road and traffic safety, points to the importance of, among other requirements, an effective EUwide type approval process for fr
  • Do satellites provide a heavenly view of tolling’s future?
    December 16, 2014
    Satellite-based tolling opens up new options for authorities and can be integrated with DSRC systems as David Crawford discovers. As the proud custodian of the European Union (EU)’s longest road network covered by a single (truck) charging scheme – and the only one to include all major roads - Slovakia has become the continent’s poster-nation for the virtues of GNSS/CN (Global Navigation Satellite System/Cellular Network)-based tolling. It is also proved to be a very fast implementer. Speaking at the 2014 I