EPA Chief Lee Zeldin this week announced his agency is getting rid of the ‘start/stop’ technology where your car dies at every red light.
“Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it,” Lee Zeldin said.
Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it. pic.twitter.com/zFhijMyHDe
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) May 12, 2025
Excerpt from Fox Business:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is targeting climate technology that automatically turns off a car’s engine when it is stopped at red lights to save fuel, a feature agency administrator Lee Zeldin said every driver “hates.”
Advocates for the technology support it as a climate-friendly initiative, while critics find it annoying and question whether it can wear down the car’s battery or engine more quickly.
Cars generally have a button allowing drivers to disable the feature.
The EPA does not require stop-start technology, but automakers that adopt it are given extra fuel economy credits.
The technology was included in 65% of vehicles in 2023, a jump from 45% in 2021, 9% in 2016 and 1% in 2012, according to the Battery Council International.
The feature can improve fuel economy by between 4% and 5%, previous EPA estimates showed. It also eliminated nearly 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year as of 2023, the BCI stated.
