Save on Gas by Using Your iPhone
Who doesn’t want to find a way to save on gas and also find an excuse to purchase an iPhone? Well now you have one. MaxQData, LLC announced today the availability of a new application called Bliss Trek, which the company is hailing as the first “eco-driving” application for the iPhone.
At first glance, you’d think that it would direct you the the gas station with the cheapest gas. But alas, you are wrong. It actually works by utilizing speed and acceleration information in real time to provide immediate feedback to drivers about the efficiency of their driving. Drivers earn points for efficient driving behavior such as driving the speed limit on the highway and for smooth acceleration and braking and lose points for less efficient behavior such as driving 100 mph or sitting idle. A friendly animated interface displays the current score along with speed and other information.
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Because you just can’t overdo the “green” theme, good drivers will see a blissful sunny sky appear on the screen, while crappy drivers will see a dark and cloudy sky. But that’s not all (I feel a little like Willie Mays, may he rest in peace). Feedback is also provided using audio cues. I don’t have an iPhone but I wonder if the phone starts yelling at you to, “Slow down, you’re running up your gas bill!” In addition, drivers who maintain good driving habits will earn a green leaf on the on-screen “Green Meter” as a record of their good deeds which you can brag about to your friends and disciples by sending “Tweets”.
According to Pete Stoppani, Chief Software Architect for Bliss Trek, “A lot of work went into making this product safe and fun to use. Drivers don’t need to look at the screen or interact with the software while driving. Our beta testers reported that they were learning to drive more efficiently the very first time they used the application.” He also noted that the software is extremely simple to use and needs no external hardware or connection to the car.
Ready to download Bliss Trek and give it a try? It’s available through the Apple App Store on iTunes and for a limited time is only $.99. You must have an iPhone 3G or 3GS to use the application. Now start saving some green already you iPhone addicts.
Most cars have trip computers nowadays and they give you all this information.
Only to an extent. Many will give you instantaneous & average mpg, but they don’t keep track of how you are doing behaviorwise. This allows you to monitor what you are doing a bit more easily.
That said, I bought it for a buck & it needs improvement.
- It seems to require a recalibration after you switch to a different app & back to it.
- It never dims the display, which will be rough on the battery.
- Ideally (this would require a hardware solution as well - and likely a more expensive app) it should tie into ODBII for throttle & braking info.
Oh, I forgot, it also quit the first time I launched it, before fully loading. Worked fine the second time though.