Land Rover has taken another step forward in reducing its impact on the environment with the unveiling of the latest technology to be applied to its award winning Freelander 2.

The intelligent stop/start system, which will be fitted as standard on all diesel manual Freelander models, will help to cut CO2 emissions by over 7% from 194 g/km to 179 g/km, dropping the vehicle a VED band from band F to band E.

This equates to a fuel economy improvement in a combined cycle (NEDC) from 37.7 mpg (7.5/100 km) to 41.5 mpg (6.8/100 km), an improvement of 10%.

The stop/start system will be installed on all manual diesel Freelanders sold across the world.
The system turns off the engine when the vehicle is stationary and automatically restarts it when the driver is ready to move off. This prevents the engine from unnecessary idling, eliminates wasting fuel and cuts carbon dioxide emissions. Failsafe systems are built in to prevent usage when the battery power is low, during cold start conditions and when air conditioning levels need to be maintained.

The first vehicles to benefit from the stop/start system will be produced towards the end of 2008.

The stop/start system is just one of Land Rover´s integrated approaches to tackling the challenges of climate change.
Land Rover and Jaguar will jointly invest £700m in sustainable technology over the next five years, in addition to Ford´s multi-billion euro programme. This will include developing hybrid technology and the use of lightweight material.

In addition, Land Rover balances all its manufacturing CO2 emissions from its UK operations (and the first 45,000 miles of customer use in the UK) with the world´s largest consumer offset programme managed by Climate Care. Out with the old (2007 SE)
In with the new (2012 Dynamic with everything). Now also gone.

I recall a VW polo with such a system about 20 years ago.

Didn't catch on as wore out the startermotor/ring gear and VW didn't fancy the bad press of VW's stuck at traffic lights.

Not all progress is good.

Mark Freelander 2
TD4 GS
Shiney fantastic Baltic Blue
Detachable Witter Towbar