Even our city buses do this, at least the later models. I was disconcerted the first time it happened since I expected it to be hard to restart. Nope, the driver steps on the gas and it just goes.
My car model, a Volvo V60, has this as an option. If it’s fitted, it has an extra battery and a heavy duty starter motor.
I rented a Chevrolet Impala in Los Angeles in 2013 which had the autostart function. The rev counter had a mark just below the 0 RPM point where the needle sat when it was stopped at lights or intersections, showing AutoStart. If the a/c was needed (Palm Springs in spring), the engine would keep running at stop lights.
Another time, in the Netherlands, I rented an Opel Astra, five speed manual, which had this feature. The engine would restart when you took your foot off the brake or as you released the clutch.
There are some vehicles where there is no button to disable it (some SUVs by GM). I know a few people who hate the start-stop feature but they can’t disable it like I can. When my Jeep was in the shop last year, my rental was a Chevy Equinox and the start-stop could not be disabled by a button.
I wonder if permanently disabling the start-stop feature will void the warranty? Some sites say yes, some sites say no.
Glad to know that’s why a car mom and I rented to go to Nashville kept turning off! I don’t have a huge problem with it, but egads, TELL THE PERSON if you’re renting them a car that does this :smack: Most people by far are not driving cars with a feature like this, and can be caught off-guard if it were to suddenly happen without explanation. I generally avoid driving any cars other than my own if at all possible, and had I been in the driver’s seat rather than my mom, I’d have had a mini panic attack.
I read an article a few years ago about a “breakthrough” in the stop-start technology. The control was precise enough that an engine could stop with one of the cylinders just past top dead center after the compression stroke. The fuel air mix was in the cylinder and compressed, ready to go. All the computer had to do to start 5he engine was fire that spark plug. No use of the starter or anything. I don’t know if some/all of the manufacturers have implemented this, but there you go.
I drove one car like that about a year ago. I hated that function. One more thing to go wrong as far as I’m concerned. I was able to disable it with the push of a button, though.
Yes, one more thing to go wrong. OTOH, there’s no wear on engine components while the car is stopped.
What “one more thing” are you referring to? There is no additional component in the car to make this happen.
Not being your average Prius driver, I’d often floor it when the light turned green, and accelerated faster than the hybrid system would support. So, maybe, but I’m not convinced.
Anyhow, with electronics, a car can react faster than a person can.
I have a new car, a 2020, and I haven’t noticed it turn off the engine yet, so I can’t tell for sure.
It’s not required, so some cars may not have it. It was mostly put on cars to raise mileage rates to comply with CAFE requirements or their equivalent in other countries. AIUI, European cars got it several years before US ones did.
It’s not different, really. Priuses can start moving on battery power alone, sure. But they don’t have to. But even this distinction doesn’t matter—a Prius needs to start its engine no matter how the car began rolling. It’s the same task.
As Voyager points out, Priuses will add IC power when the driver pushes the pedal past some threshold, even from a standstill.
As I said, cars have had this feature for many years now, and there’s no evidence that it causes more frequent repairs.
Almost all cars with this feature include a button somewhere to disable it, as others have noted. Sometimes, this is included in a “Sport” button or Sport mode, or listed in an electronic menu system.
This is one of several features that makes driving a modern passenger car a miserable experience. The others are the ubiquitous small-displacement, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which generally sounds and feels like a strained lawnmower and comes with copious turbo lag, and the 8-speed (or more) automatic transmission that upshifts as early as possible and only bestows a downshift upon you with great reluctance.
Together, this is why I think EVs are going to take off much faster than anyone thinks, particularly in the premium / “entry luxury” market ($30,000+). They’re completely quiet and smooth, and respond instantly and linearly. It’s a vastly more pleasant experience than a small turbo 4-cylinder.
My Camry hybrid would just clear the garage backing out before the engine started. It would occasionally stop at red lights. My BMW has the option to turn off the auto stop-start. (You can also restart the engine by wiggling the steering wheel). My Tesla just goes.
Yes, autostart is one more feature to go wrong, but I assume it’s built into the engine computer - so if the computer can’t tell that the engine is not running, or that the button has been pushed, or that the engine is already turning - autostart is the least of your problems.
IMHO - the problem with ICE replacement will start to arrive when the cars become so few that finding a gas station will be the problem. (Not so much in town, but on extended highway trips and more out-of-the-way places). An electrical charger system is so simple, with computerized billing, they can be stuck anywhere - restaurant and hotel parking lots, shopping malls, etc. - and your own home. Gas stations need regular deliveries, need people to watch for theft (much harder to steal electricity unless you have a full charger unit of your own) and gas deliveries, the environmental risks of tank leaks, etc. - it will start to become less desirable a business as sales dwindle.
I’ve driven a few rental cars with auto shutoff. I don’t see what the objection is. It’s barely noticeable if there’s any noise from the radio or conversation.
It seems there are a finite number of cranks in a starter motor, though. Does this system not wear those little buggers out faster?
Some/all of them just send a spark to whichever cylinder is at the top of the power stroke. No need for using the starter motor.
Reprises many other threads but I believe that will be well past the life expectancy (or especially still driving expectancy) of the great majority of people posting here. 
In the US anyway. EV’s becoming a significant share of market? Sure that could happen in next couple of decades. Not enough ICE’s to support the gas station business is much too far off to think much about now IMO. Decades ago there was a small fraction as many cars as now, and it supported a national gas station network in the same size country.
On start-stop it’s a funny combination of Ludditism and futurism IMO to complain about that while saying how convenient EV’s are, which they actually aren’t IMO as of now except for certain specialized use like always charge at home (everyone is free to have their consumer preference, as long as no ramp up in collective bribe/coercion measures to get people to buy EV’s I have no problem with them). Or some people just complain about start-stop independent of EV’s. I’ve had two start-stop equipped cars so far and don’t see the complaint. ‘One more thing to break’ is not that useful an engineering metric actually.
On drivability of recent cars I found 2015 BMW 328i (8 speed, highly turbocharged 4) to be the most drivable I’ve had, just from POV of seamless and smooth. Transmission is excellent at choosing gears itself, car has plenty of power but avgs 37-38 mpg on long trips under my foot. I averaged just a couple more than that in a Toyota C-HR hybrid small SUV rental in Ireland, with dangerously weak acceleration to pass on two lane roads and shit handling. My current 2018 M2 (7 speed DCT, highly turbocharged 6) is more ‘dramatic’ in feel than the 328, always more going on terms of exhaust growl and feeling the shifts and engine braking effect if you let off the gas drive train wise, besides quite firm riding. And that’s even when I drive nice and easy, as I do on crowded local roads. I only drive it hard on thinly trafficked winding roads, where its personality is exactly what I want. It also start-stops, a bit of a weird combination with the car’s personality otherwise, but I don’t see a problem with that, does save some gas.
The old carburetor days rule of thumb was that turning the engine off/on was roughly equivalent to idling for one minute, IIRC. So if you thought you’d be sitting still for more than a minute, it was most efficient to turn it off, but if you thought you’d be sitting still less than a minute, it was most efficient to just idle.
These days, it’s clearly most efficient to turn it off if you’ll be sitting still for almost any length of time.
The old carburetor days rule of thumb was that turning the engine off/on was roughly equivalent to idling for one minute, IIRC. So if you thought you’d be sitting still for more than a minute, it was most efficient to turn it off, but if you thought you’d be sitting still less than a minute, it was most efficient to just idle.
These days, it’s clearly most efficient to turn it off if you’ll be sitting still for almost any length of time.