Not only do in-car navigation systems help avoid countless frustrations (not to mention long discussions with your significant other), but they also contribute to environmental protection according to a recent study by NavTeq, one of the leading GPS service providers in the world.
The European study, conducted in two metropolitan areas of Germany -- Munich and Düsseldorf --, reveals that people using GPS-based navigation in their cars burn 12 percent less fuel on average and produce nearly 24 percent fewer CO2 emissions.
To get these results, researchers called on a hundred drivers who had not previously owned a navigation system. The participants had their vehicles outfitted with a logging device which was used to track the route they drove and their driving speed over a specific period of time.
Overall, more than 2,100 individual trips were recorded, totaling over 20,000 kilometers and almost 500 hours of driving. Interestingly, the three-pronged study evaluated drivers without a navigation system, drivers with a navigation system, and drivers with a navigation system that included traffic.
In addition to greater fuel economy resulting from shorter routes and trip times, the study also indicates that performance increases over time. Drivers who learned how to use navigation were able to improve their fuel economy since they had an easier time following the instructions provided by the system.
Unsurprisingly, greater improvements were seen during non-routine trips: When traveling a route other than what was customarily traveled, the reductions in trip times and fuel consumption were higher.
At the end of the evaluation, researchers determined that fuel consumption among those drivers using navigation had fell from 8.3 to 7.3 L/100 km, which translates to an estimated 0.91-metric ton decrease in CO2 emissions per driver every year.
And with an annualized decrease in driving of nearly 2,500 fewer kilometers per driver, 1.19 million tires would also be saved from disposal in Germany alone.
No similar study has been conducted in North America yet. However, there's reason to believe that the results would be even more striking since the average North American car burns more fuel than its European counterpart.
photo:NavTeq
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The European study, conducted in two metropolitan areas of Germany -- Munich and Düsseldorf --, reveals that people using GPS-based navigation in their cars burn 12 percent less fuel on average and produce nearly 24 percent fewer CO2 emissions.
To get these results, researchers called on a hundred drivers who had not previously owned a navigation system. The participants had their vehicles outfitted with a logging device which was used to track the route they drove and their driving speed over a specific period of time.
Overall, more than 2,100 individual trips were recorded, totaling over 20,000 kilometers and almost 500 hours of driving. Interestingly, the three-pronged study evaluated drivers without a navigation system, drivers with a navigation system, and drivers with a navigation system that included traffic.
In addition to greater fuel economy resulting from shorter routes and trip times, the study also indicates that performance increases over time. Drivers who learned how to use navigation were able to improve their fuel economy since they had an easier time following the instructions provided by the system.
Unsurprisingly, greater improvements were seen during non-routine trips: When traveling a route other than what was customarily traveled, the reductions in trip times and fuel consumption were higher.
At the end of the evaluation, researchers determined that fuel consumption among those drivers using navigation had fell from 8.3 to 7.3 L/100 km, which translates to an estimated 0.91-metric ton decrease in CO2 emissions per driver every year.
And with an annualized decrease in driving of nearly 2,500 fewer kilometers per driver, 1.19 million tires would also be saved from disposal in Germany alone.
No similar study has been conducted in North America yet. However, there's reason to believe that the results would be even more striking since the average North American car burns more fuel than its European counterpart.
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photo:NavTeq
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