Zeldin Wants Rollback of ‘Hated’ Red-Light Car Engine Stop-Start Feature
“Incentives” for feature will disappear as part of the Trump administration’s moves to “unburden us with what has been”.
The race for the designation of most effective Trump “hire” for the second term continues today with an entry from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin.
Zeldin has just announced plans to end federal incentives for automatic engine stop-start technology in vehicles, which he described as a response to widespread driver dissatisfaction.
As is often the case with the current Trump administration, Zeldin made the announcement on social media…bypassing the elite media. He posted: “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”.
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
There are so many reasons that the feature is unpopular with Americans, stemming from its origins with Obama and European auto requirements.
Automatic start-stop technology became popular in large part due to fuel economy and emissions regulations introduced during the Obama administration. Initially introduced by European carmakers in hybrid vehicles, over the past decade, it became common across many new models, including SUVs and pickup trucks. While it is not mandated in new cars, it has been widely adopted due to federal fuel standard incentives.
The system shuts off the engine when the vehicle is fully stopped and restarts it when the driver releases the brake or presses the accelerator. Automakers claim the feature improves fuel efficiency and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.
However, many who have bought cars with the feature indicate it can be annoying or even dangerous. Others assert that the sto-start system causes long-term wear on engines and offers only minimal environmental benefits.
One real-world test from Jason Fenske’s Engineering Explained showed there is a benefit to the tech when you’re sitting stationary for extended periods of time, such as at a long traffic light. If you’re only stopping briefly, however (like for a stop sign), the benefit drops away.
It’s also important to recognize that not all start/stop systems are the same. Many traditional internal-combustion cars with the tech will shut the engine off when you’ve come to a full stop, then switch the engine back on once you lift off the brake pedal to begin moving again.
Vehicles with mild-hybrid electric assist will take that a step further and shut the engine off as you’re coasting to a stop, eliminating the rough sensation of an engine abruptly stopping. They’re typically much smoother on start-up, too, as the electric assist gets you moving off the line, giving the engine a chance to start after the car’s already started to roll forward.
Many mild-hybrid-equipped vehicles will even shut the engine off while coasting, too, silently saving fuel in the background.
It must be noted that the EPA has never mandated stop-start technology, but it has provided automakers with “off-cycle credits”(extra fuel economy credits) for including it in their vehicles. These incentives were introduced as one of the many ludicrous climate-cultists polices that began to be implemented under Obama, cascading into the “Green New Deal” scam under Biden.
Because of these “incentives”, the start-stop feature became standard in a significant portion of new cars (about 65% of new vehicles sold in 2023 featured stop-start system).
It will be interesting to see what the portion of such sales will be when these “incentives” disappear as part of the Trump administration’s moves to “unburden us with what has been”.
The breakneck speed to meet CAFE requirements and CO2 emissions has led to shortened engine life.
Undersized engines stressed with turbos, zero weight oil, start stop, etc has only led to huge repair bills for consumers that far outweigh the fuel savings.
— MacJediKev ✝️ 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇯🇲 (@KevinLedgister) May 13, 2025
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
There is a control to stop the feature…
of course if the “feature” wasn’t there to begin with then there is no need for the “control” to turn it on and off to also be there. Design simplification and cost reduction says hello.
Tha you have to activate every time you start the car. It would be better if I could select it off and forget it.
“I’ll boil it down for you. First, government forced this man to buy airbags, because bureaucrats in Washington know better than he what’s needed for his well-being. Then, when he failed to deactivate the safety feature he was compelled to buy, it sent him to jail. Airbags have turned America’s sense of justice on its head.”
— Airbags Kill More Kids Than School Shootings, Car & Driver
And that control is run through the computer (both the start-stop and the stop-the-start-stop).
Yes… there is a control to turn it off, but on my 2024 BMW you must deactivate the function every time you start or restart the engine, Further, the “button” to do is is hidden on a second-level screen. That is done deliberately to discourage disabling the system.
I believe that -for the consumer- the initial costs of the larger special battery, the starter motor, and the circuitry outweigh any savings from fuel economy savings.
As for safety… well… my car has a turbo-engine. I had a rather bad experience when I forgot to disable stop/start. I was in a store parking exit and needed to turn left across traffic when leaving the store. Traffic was heavy and gaps in traffic were scarce. When I saw my opening, I punched the gas and went. And nothing happened at first and then almost nothing followed…. The engine was off and had to restart (which it did but that literally takes a second) and then the turbo had to spool up before the small super-boosted engine makes ANY power ( which takes a couple of seconds).
Three seconds is a LONG time.
So, my car limped out into the oncoming traffic lane and crawled as I watched the approaching car start to brake, driver wide-eyed. Just as I was certain I was going to meet Jesus personally, the power FINALLY arrived and I literally smoked the tires and I slid sideways into my proper lane.
Turbo lag is bad enough but combined with auto-stop it’s….not good.
“Further, the “button” to do is is hidden on a second-level screen.. That is done deliberately to discourage disabling the system.”
Virtually every other make has a button easily fiound and pushed. Just more “German engineering” at its finest.
Mine is easy to find, but when I start my car I’m busy making sure there’s no one behind me as I’m backing out, or no cars or pedestrians as I’m pulling forward. I’ve spent 40+ years not thinking about it, I’m not starting now.
A useless cost.
Yes, on my wife’s new car there is a button on the underside of the dash which will turn off that insanely stupid system. It cannot be permanently disabled and so it must be disengaged every single time you start the car.
There is an after-market device which will allow you to turn it off once, and then will leave it off. But if runs into hundreds of dollars (it’s a small computer that goes in-line with a cable harness to the car’s computer). Most importantly, it voids the warranty on the vehicle if it’s found by a dealer’s mechanic during a service or maintenance check.
All evidence shows that it is essentially useless for increasing mileage, with test reports showing less than 1/10th of an MPG in almost all usage. The horrifically increased wear on the engine, the need for secondary starter motors, et cetera ad nauseum, is just the icing on the government over-regulation cake. They want to kill our cars with a net negative to the environment because of the huge effect of increased repairs and parts. Of course, like all collectivist/statist/authoritarian schemes helping the environment was never the goal…the goal is ALWAYS power and control.
Make it OPT IN instead of OPT out. Simple. The people that wear masks in the car while driving alone can opt in and enjoy it.
And cylinder deactivation is a monstrosity, Look at GM’s “success” with it and how it blows up engines, High stressed small engines with the hideous “Eco boost” and its adherents? Ford is paying for that now, and even TOYOTA has to replace 100K engines on their Tundra series because these engines just plain blow up.
We controlled it by disabling the second battery (!) that is needed for this “feature.” Cost more in environmental damage to make that battery than we’re saving in fuel costs.
Also, on some cars, you can’t disable it with just a button.
Good. It’s a useless technology that doesn’t improve real-world fuel economy at all, unless it’s a hybrid. Maybe next they can tackle some of the other ridiculous regulations that have resulted in cars with zero visibility in certain directions.
My kids roll their eyes, but I keep on saying I prefer cars built pre-1990 – not only because of crap like this, but also because they’re actually fixable by home mechanics.
Actually cars today are easier to repair. All you need is a good $600 scan tool that does all of the testing and diagnostics for you. After that it’s not much more than replacing parts.
If you can get to the part in the car. The engines have been stuffed in in ways that make it impossible to get to a lot of what used to be normal maintenance/repair. I have a Ford escape (which I despise more than anything) where I have to take out three major plastic pieces in the engine compartment just to take the friggin battery out – which died early thanks to the crappy start-stop junk. On top of all that, Ford managed to make a tiny engine that has no power, whatsoever, but still gets totally crappy mileage! It’s almost impressive how weak my engine is but it still gulps gasoline like crazy – around 20 mpg in an open suburban setting.
One of the kids took his car to the shop recently. I drove him there to pick it up. The mechanic was shaking his head when he told me it was a communication module. He had been fixing cars for over 30 years. When he started, he wouldn’t have believed that the day would come when most of his work was replacing communications stuff. You can’t repair it. You just replace it. And it costs a ton of money every time.
Progress. Right.
LOL!! What about “eco friendly” soy based wiring insulation that mice LOVE to chew on?
I despise this useless mandate, and shut it off immediately upon starting my car, as does 90+% of everyone I know.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a constant stop/start cycling of the engine will reduce the life of the motor and increase maintenance costs. This is a stupid feature that should never have been subsidized by the government. Some intern wizard came up with it and for some reason it was adopted.
Wat isn’t mentioned here is how much cost is added to vehicles to implement this “feature”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTBN8Ic57Gg
It is not as simple as, “Turn car off, turn car on”.
I’ve always thought this was a good way to kill the car battery, with the constant high-amperage draws to restart the engine.
Watch the video I linked and see all the things they had to do to make this work. Part of it was beefing up the electrical system.
Damn. Here I was, hoping to expose a conspiracy by Big Battery 😀
Our Durango has a second battery that is the one that powers this silliness. It is a conspiracy.
The engineers took that into account when they were designing the car’s systems. Some cars have a second battery for the system.
It’s a start – now lower the minimum milage requirements to a divide by zero error and deny states the ability to set their own standards.
In the race to get the most MPG the c at companies are now recalling millions of cars with potential engine failures. They don’t allow them to be remanufactured because they know they will fail again. Government mandates way too high CAFE standards and leaves manufacturers holding the bag. It can all be traced back to California.
Great. Now do variable cylinder deactivation. Auto makers shouldn’t be able to virtually deactivate the warranty by shutting that off.
You’ll have to pardon me if I don’t get excited about this even though any time I drive a rental car with this feature I immediately turn it off.
The overzealous regulations on diesel emissions is a far more important issue that must be reversed.
Agreed!! The EGR and DEF requirements do NOTHING for the engine or economy, quite the opposite, in fact.
They constipate the engines and make them unreliable. Not like the old Diesels.
Reduce the CAFE standards to about 35MPG. That’s what I was getting from my sports car in 1988. Without all the fancy computers. (It did have EFI, IIRC.)
Speaking from personal experience with my 2020 Ford:
You can disable it from the menu.
It saves about 1 mpg in DC metro area traffic.
I got 5 years from the factory battery. I’de have gotten more, but a period of illness when it wasn’t driven killed the battery.
If you’re just stopping for a stop sign, quickly lift your foot from the brake just as it stops and then reapply it. It will keep running.
In winter, it keeps running to keep the heater going.
In summer, it will stop, but restart if the a/c is needed.
Both the battery and starter are heavy duty.
With direct injection and the computer, it takes a fraction of a second to restart. Very little wear or battery draw.
I like it.
Then you should be able to ask for it as an upgrade on your vehicle.
Indeed. Pay for it and enjoy!! And direct injection is another nightmare, causing all sorts of buildup on intake valves and in combustion chambers. Port injection worked just fine.
Why do we have to do all these gymnastics to bypass a system nobody wants?
I hear next year Chevrolet is coming out with a stripped down model, the 2026 Luddite. It has a JC Whitney catalog in the glove box. Turn signals are optional.
That’s how I buy my RV tow vehicle. Every doo-dad upgrade forced on me before I buy it lowers my payload capacity.
5 years for a battery in a modern car full of computers is pretty good. My Subaru will only stop the engine if the engine is fully warm, the interior temperature is close to what it’s set for or the climate control system is off, and the battery has sufficient charge. While the engine is off, a pop-up in the gauge cluster counts how long the engine has been off this tank and how much fuel is saved. I trust that the engineers who are smarter than me designed the car’s systems to handle the start-stop system.
I like the popup that tells you time idle. Nice touch.
I also agree that the engineers are smarter than the critics.
my 2019 silverado has an easy to access button to disable.
I press button by habit now. in area where it has only shutoff a few times in last few years but would rather engine stay running.
yeah have to do it every time I start it. still though…
Start/stop is an annoying feature, though with a bit of creativity you can permanently disable it on most cars. Usually that involves permanently shorting the contacts on the switch that temporarily disables the system, if the car has a hardware switch to disable the system. Since over 90% of engine wear is associated with engine startup, it makes sense that disabling the system will reduce engine wear.
Even worse is the manufacturers using low-tension piston rings that don’t properly seal against the cylinder walls and eventually will get gummed up with oil sludge. When your engine can burn as much as a liter of engine oil for every thousand miles driven and still be considered “within spec”, that is a problem. Especially as burning engine oil is much worse ecologically than burning gasoline.
You couldn’t get me to buy any of the newer vehicles they sell, they’re made to be junk in less than 100k miles anymore. Meanwhile, I have a 21=year-old vehicle that still runs like new with little more than proper maintenance.
I am asked often why I do not replace my 2003 Ram 2500 (4×4, 5-speed, Cummins) with a new truck. This comment thread makes it clear. I’m at 151K plus and running strong. It doesn’t stop until I say stop. “Cold, dead hands…” and all that.
I certainly wouldn’t support this being a required feature (which I don’t think it ever was), but I didn’t mind it on my Mini Cooper I previously owned. Perhaps since it was a manual transmission (which is what a true driver of a Mini prefers), it caused no inconvenience or delay as the engine would immediately start with engaging the clutch pedal to select first gear.
to bad there isnt that kind of button when aoc goes to making a speech
The Bride and I will keep our 2007 and 2012 Hyundais, thankyouverymuch, until we have no choice. They’re reliable and acceptable to us and, until catastrophic failure or being wrecked, there is no need to replace them. She loves her Tucson and my Santa Fe gives me wheelspinning power like RIGHT NOW when I drop the hammer even with traction control working.
.
Can we unburden Americans from the Biden era portable gas cans?
Hate this. Hate this, Hate this.
First time I encountered this I thought the car was broken. Scared the hell out of me. Wondered if everything would just stop.
Found out I can turn it off but I would have to do it each time the car started. Meanwhile it keeps blurping out a warning message. Thankfully no beeps.
Then I found out that it doesn’t enable unless I put my seat belt on. No seat belt then no stop engine. Go figure.
I hate this stupid feature, and I disable it by habit now every time I start the vehicle. Perhaps eventually the mfr. will offer a software update to eliminate it.