PSA group, the company that produces Peugeot and Citroen models will be introducing a new range of low emissions diesel engines with start/stop technology later this year.
The company's first start/stop technology was first seen in the Citroen C3 in 2004 but the system has been revised and will be badged e-HDi because it will be available on the group's diesel engines in the first instance.
The first e-HDi unit to hit the UK will be available on the Citroen C5 and C4 models and these will arrive in the UK in the final quarter of this year (2010). The first Peugeot models to receive the e-HDi system will be the 308 and the successor to the 407 in early 2011.
The e-HDi system will be used on the 1.4 and 1.6-litre HDi units in the initial stages and then the 2.0-litre HDi engine will get the e treatment in 2013.
PSA claims that on average motorists spend 30% of time in traffic when driving in town and this system will improve fuel economy by 15% by cutting the engine off, therefore saving on fuel and cutting the CO2 output. The system takes 0.4s to restart and there is no rattle or vibrations that plagued older start/stop systems.
PSA believes that it will have sold one million e-hybrid vehicles by 2012 as some model line-ups will be only available with e-Hdi whereas other models will come with a range of engine options.
This second generation stop/start technology has a reversible alternator and this allows the stop/start kit to integrate with the electrics. The new generation has 70% more power on restart and it has 50% more pulling power when starting up from cold.
By 2016/2017 the e-Hdi system will come as standard on all Peugeot/Citroen cars. According to the PSA group the system will work for at least 600,000 restarts, while a conventional engine is good for 50,000 restarts.