Vaporware: Miles Ahead Accelerometer

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States Government has the task of testing all devices that claim to improve fuel economy in our cars. To date, none have proven to make a significant improvement with a single exception. This is called the Coffee Cup method.

In the most simple terms, the driver should imagine placing a cup of hot coffee on the dashboard of the car and then drive so the coffee will not spill.

In practical terms this is nothing more than an extremely low-tech accelerometer to tame the wild driving practices that consume such a high percentage of our fuel. Things like extreme acceleration from stop lights and continuous acceleration right up to an abrupt stop are huge wastes of fuel.

The solution is to create a very low cost accelerometer with a beeper that goes off when starting, turning or stopping too fast. It is safer than spilling coffee and has proven power to save money in every car.