iPhone app measures your car's global footprint
Here’s another cool iPhone application. It’s called the greenMeter. Among other things, it computes a vehicle’s real-time fuel consumption, helping a driver adapt his or her style to become more economical and more eco-friendly (by creating fewer emissions).
Inside the iPhone (and iPod Touch) is an accelerometer, which this app taps into. And it doesn’t just measure fuel economy. Also displayed in graph form is engine power, carbon footprint and energy impact. It works for gasoline or diesel.
Before setting off, various parameters need to be loaded, such as the price of fuel, the vehicle’s drag coefficient and weight, the tires’ rolling resistance, weather conditions, etc. This sounds a little more complex than it really is. There are some ballpark figures on the app developer’s website and a little cyber surfing might help. The more accurate these figures are, the more accurate the readouts will be.
Scrolling between graphs is done simply by tapping the screen. It should be noted that doing anything that diverts attention from the task of driving is a no-no. Providing the device is within one’s peripheral vision (and secured so it doesn’t move around while driving), the colors displayed impart sufficient information -- green is good, red is bad.
The greenMeter is available from the iTunes App Store for $5.99, so it probably won’t take long to pay for itself. For example, this app shows a difference of about $300 in fuel costs between cruising speeds of 60 mph and 70 mph for a medium-sized car covering 10,000 miles.
Photo: Hunter Research & Technology
